Alexander Braulov is a successful artist with personal exhibitions, as well as a ‘Rosneft’ analyst and co-owner of the ‘52factory’ design studio. He “embroiders” Soviet buildings, the memories of his own childhood, scenes from Russian movies and simple phrases familiar to everyone.
He made his first embroidery in kindergarten
Alexander, in an interview with ‘The Art Newspaper Russia’, said that he tried embroidery for the first time back in kindergarten – his group was taught contour embroidery. For many years, he didn’t return to this art, until, during the third-fourth year of university, he tried to embroider again, simply because he lacked some creativity in his life.
Later, Alexander, together with his future wife, started to engage in mail art – sending artistic letters or items by post or creating an art object from the letter itself. The artist then created his mail art project titled ‘150 embroidered faces’. That’s how embroidery came back into his life.
Avant-garde heritage and Russian cinema
One of the frequent narratives in Alexander’s works – Soviet architectural modernism. Embroidering Soviet buildings, the artist tries to carry over the idea of their value and the necessity of preserving unique buildings. Currently, the artist has about 240 such works.
@sashabraulov
@sashabraulov
Another recurrent theme in his works – Russian cinema. Alexander embroiders vivid moments from modern Russian movies.
@sashabraulov
@sashabraulov
Documentary embroidery
Alexander also puts this hashtag under his works about everyday life: a grandma buying some groceries, a girl swinging on a swing, children sitting on a sled near a snowman.
A lot of works of the artist are dedicated to children and that’s not just an attempt to evoke nostalgic feelings in the viewer. Alexander purposefully picks good-hearted and naive narratives to create an impression that the embroidery was made by his six-year-old self.
@sashabraulov
Embroidery on the streets
Alexander often displays his works on the streets of Kolomna, a district in St. Petersburg. Not to damage the buildings, he tries to put up his works only over old advertisements and posters. Usually, the artist picks positive images to put on walls – with mood-raising narratives or famous quotes from Soviet cartoons, songs and poems.
@sashabraulov
@sashabraulov
@sashabraulov
Also, Alexander is not at all against other people taking the embroidery, should they find it. It wouldn’t stay on the streets for long, anyway – in such conditions, threads quickly fade and tear.
Large format
Not all of Alexander’s embroideries are small. He has large works, as well: ‘Be strong and kind’ (2.5*1.45 meters) and ‘Fear nothing’ (1.4*2.4 meters).
@sashabraulov
@sashabraulov
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