Press

In this section you can enjoy various articles and film covering Alexander Vorobyev's work in both English and Russian.

Royal Watercolour Society - Watercolour Masters - Then & Now, Foreword by HRH The Prince Of Wales

I think in terms of the construction of a dream, or of worshipping paper. A painter's thinking needs to be cosmic. Because of the intense inwardness of my vision, and the purity and power of my reactions to the world around me, I aspire to break through in the way that Dali, Kandinskiy and Klee managed to break through in the twentieth century.

I think that my works of art combine, in an organic whole, two lines of development, surrealism and abstractionism. Perhaps there are too many symbols in my works – crosses, spirals, springs, spheres, or quite real snails and flies, human bodies and severed limbs are all of a medieval mysticism worshipped by me. But this expresses the force of my imagination and the concentration of my dreams.

A lot of my works have titles such as 'Construction of a Dream'. I was stunned be the words of a famous French poet Artur Rimbaud: 'irregularity of thought is sacred'. When I work, I feel like I am having an adventure and I want to plunge the viewer in the cosmic sfumato, adding new horizons to my imagination and to the viewer's. Our imagination is the authentic realism. Sometimes an old posted envelope could mean more to me than a picture, and if it is a burning postal stamp, it is even more exciting. That is what I call worshipping paper. For many years, I, like a pagan, have been worshipping paper. I feel excited because of the paper's different types and textures, while the transparency of watercolours allows me to effortlessly levitate in my dreams and waking hours.

When I first saw Artur Rackham's fantastic illustrations they took my breath away because of their fine lines, fantasy, grotesque and mysticism. Artur Rackham and William Blake have definitely influenced my art. Like Blake, I see the sky in a flower-cup.

Above Left Artur Rackham, 'A Bargain with the Devil', watercolour, bodycolour and Indian ink, 35.5cm x 28cm

Below Left Alexander Vorobyev, 'Summer Melancholy, Fed by the Energy of a Beehive', 1991, silver pencil, gouache and watercolour 66cm x 51cm

Below Right Alexander Vorobyev, 'One Summer in Hell, 1991, gouache and watercolour, 55cm x 51cm

Film

ALEXANDER VOROBYEV FIRENZE BIENNALE INTERNAZIONALE Dâ'ARTE CONTEMPORANEA FORTEZZA DA BASSO December 2007

These films show Alexander Vorobyev speaking in Russian about his art during the Florence Biennale 2007.

Alexander Vorobyev's work featured at the Florence Biennale, was recognised and awarded a medal for works on Canvas.