Vadim Mikhailov (b. Gornozavodsk, 1979) studied at the studio of M.
His works are made in the sgraffito technique — the artist applies a primer and black oil paint to the base, and then scratches the drawing with a blade or awl. This approach refers to the familiar "folk" graffiti — scratched drawings and inscriptions in ordinary front doors. As a basis, he uses everything that comes to hand: old clothes, pieces of furniture or even houses, toys, carpets and so on. Many of these items are personalized, since they originally belonged to artist friends, whose names are sometimes recorded in the titles of works, and some are imprinted in the collective memory, such as velvet wall carpets that hung in almost every Soviet and post-Soviet apartment.
The scratched drawings are extremely simple in plot. Often Vadim depicts the objective world with a sarcastic or even grotesque displacement: infinitely long nails, sewn stuffed hares or a head sleeping on bones. In addition to the world of things, the artist has recently been reproducing a fantasy world teeming with a variety of characters from myths, fairy tales, children's books about the Jurassic period, Bibles and cartoons — they intertwine, merge, are expelled from Paradise and soar in the black void.
Works are held in the collection of Museum of contemoporary art PERMM (Perm), Limonov Art Foundation (St. Petersburg), also in private russian and european collections
