User:Zak zaikine/sandbox

Overview

Victor Eugene Zaikine was born in Queens, New York in 1941. He is the son of the noted Russian muralist, Eugene Zaikine (pronounced zay-EE-kin). Victor is quoted as saying that his earliest memory of his father was to see him upon the scaffolding of churches like St. Peter's Basilica, painting mystical Marys and stern St. Peters. Following this early exposure to his father's high standards of aesthetics and craftsmanship, he went on to gain national recognition with works of art which are currently owned by collectors throughout the world. He has also been fortunate to have participated in a large number of major exhibits and received numerous awards.

Career

Victor has been painting ever since the age of 4, and admits he's never known a day in which art was not a part of daily life. The ability to shape molten metal led him to experimenting with metal sculpting. He used only recycled materials in his metal work, giving discarded metal objects, even coat hangers, a new life.

As a sculptor of bronzes, his sense of design and technique give his pieces a fluid illusion of buoyancy and lightness. Victor seeks to capture the purest inner essence whether the subject is a lean, supple nude from his contemplation series, or the spiritual self-encounter of "The Uniting," or the whimsical creatures he calls "Wood Fairies." His work is mythological and archetypal, but also reflects his own personal reality as a man and an artist.

Zaikine came from the folk art tradition of oral storytelling, but when asked by an editor of a major publishing house to write them down, he hedged. However, after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, he felt compelled to focus on something he could do to lift the situation. Thus he recorded Pearls of Wisdom, Points of Light, and the Magical Golden Fish on his first CD.

Then in January, 2003, he was invited to spend 10 days at the Gift House on the island of Kauai, Hawaii by a private foundation that offers people involved in charitable, spiritual or artistic work, and who give generously of their time and energy to support others, a space for renewal in the land of rainbows and waterfalls. There he became an author and my first children's book, The Magic of Hanalei Bay, was born.