400 WORDS Sergey Tyukanov

Sergey Tyukanov is an illustrator who works in different mediums, including etching, to create strange and wonderful architecture. While not simply fantasy, in so far as being used in an actual story (and having an extra touch of surrealism in there as well), he designs city scapes or simply floating groups of buildings in different shapes. These shapes include, and mainly consist of cutlery, china and other objects you would generally find your kitchen. Animals are also featured, with cities growing out of their backs, though landscapes and natural form do not feature very heavily, which sets him apart from this general rule I have picked up on from other artists.

What initially interested me in his work, was the sheer amount of detail he pours into them, far surpassing the limited intricacies of actual architecture. His piece Castle of Time- 2007 (right) is based on Neuschwanstein Castle (left) in Bavaria. Tyukanov says his castle is 'so light and air-like that it lifted off the ground', which obviously came from the experience of seeing this elegant structure with its spires high up in the mountains. This element of realism is ever present in any buildings I draw myself, using foreign architecture as a starting point, simply because it is exotic, and therefore fantastical.

 What I find most intriguing about Tyukanov is that each piece on his website is attatched to a short paragraph which tells the story. For instance, with Flying Dutchman- 2007 (left), 'a wandering ship that had been travelling forever and will never reach its destination'; or Coffee Pot- 2007 (left, below), 'in this world of metamorphosis one can see ordinary things turn into houses'. This reversal of the typical illustration trope of an image to accompany a text is another take on the way my drawings tend to exist on their own.

Tyukanov has told the story of his pieces, not so specifically as to distract from the image, but to enhance it, much like novelists use illustration in their books. I could apply this to my piece (below). For instance 'The attack had left the city shaken, but the river was flowing again', or something equally vague. Yet when I apply this to my own pieces, I feel it is so unnecessary, it does nothing but make me cringe. I think this is because each image I create is an entire scene, layed out before the viewer, there is so much going on and also nothing at all, while Tyukanov's seem to fuel the need for a story, having but one subject.