Put Usov on a Record

ENTER THE CREATIVE WORLD OF TRADITIONAL RARE ART

Wooden sculpture in all its variations is a rather rare art today. Yet anyone with a sharp adz and a block of wooden logs can try their hands at this primal craft. So does Leontii Usov, a well-known Tomsk sculptor who gave a birth to a famous monument to Anton Pavlovich Chekhov on the Tom embankment.

15 years ago Leontii Usov was an ordinary resident and actor in one of Tomsk theatres, where he worked for a solid 30 years and, according to him, firstly as a scene man to become an actor.

– I understood that there is no art in the theatre, there is a high craft, – says Usov. And how to put yourself on record? One must track up. I took a pencil, studied to draw, graphics, oil painting and then turned to sculpture of-the- wall. And left the theatre.

In the year 2000 Leontii Usov opened his own sculpture studio in Tomsk where he is now working on and producing his own sought-after craft pieces and original works. When entering, you see a spacious and war room; the air is full of relish sawdust and woody smell.

Walking around the workshop you feel the inimitable style of master in each piece of craft. Leontii Usov makes his portrait sculptures in a peculiar style, indeed: each figure has a head, hands and some accompanying accessories. And that’s all. And this gives a certain sculpture physical ethereality and meaningfulness.

DIRECTIONS

‘It happens sometimes when you go to the museum and see pictures all resembling each other, with the same form, the same tone. And then you see such stuff out of the blue, and feel the aesthetic viewpoint of the author. It’s all about the form, you see? It’s powerful and thrilling, so to stop the people.’

Leontiy Usov

The workshop of Usov is located in the residential district, in the basement of an old building that used to be a grocery-store until the master bought up it to establish there his own art corner.