Valery Sigayev is a Ukrainian artist born on
November 18, 1962 in Chernihiv Region
Since his childhood, Valery had pursued and developed
his interest in painting. In 1983, he graduated from Kharkiv College
of Fine Arts with a diploma of artist decorator. In 1992, Valery
graduated from Kiev Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Graphic
Art.
Since 1987-1992, the artist has been taking part
in all Ukrainian Republican Exhibitions. The Ministry of Culture
and the Union of Artists of Ukraine purchased for their reserves,
his series of etchings exhibited at a Republican Exhibition. This
was a great honor paid by the state to a young artist.
In 1990, the artist was offered to work in the
Ukrainian town of Ichnya, Chernihiv Region, to paint the icons
for the altar screen of the Ascension Church. After the completion,
the artist was offered to paint the icons and the murals in another
cathedral in Ukraine (traditionally, the Orthodox churches are
lavishly painted inside). In 1991, Valery Sigayev accepted the
proposition and began working in the Transfiguration Cathedral
in the town of Pryluky, Chernihiv Region Ukraine. The Cathedral
has been built in 1725 in the architectural style of the Ukrainian
baroque and has never been painted inside. However, after the
Soviet State returned the Cathedral to the Orthodox Church, the
priest decides to decorate it with paintings and icons.
It was a great responsibility for Valery who
had to create new paintings, taking into consideration the Cathedral’s
architecture, and the requirements of the Church. Having finalized
the work on the icons, Valery began the work on the mural paintings.
The artist depicted scenes from the Old Testament and the Gospels.
He finalized the murals of the Transfiguration Cathedral in 1997.
To illustrate the amount of work done by the
artist, we would like to mention the following figures: the iconostasis
consists of 22 icons and the total surface of the mural paintings
is over 1000 square meters; the Transfiguration Cathedral is 25
meters high and has five domes. In total, the artist painted over
40 icons for the Transfiguration Cathedral.
As for Valery’s non-religious work, most
of it consists of paintings and graphic works (etchings, lithographs,
monotypes). The artist works with oil on stretched canvas and
panels and does not limit himself to one theme or trend. His subjects
are varied: landscapes, seascapes, still lives, portraits. Valery
also creates works in the traditional Ukrainian manner and paints
with oil on glass. He developed for that matter, a technique where
he paints on several layers of glass, to create an impression
of volume. Besides all this, the artist decorates furniture, using
oil paint.
His graphics and paintings are displayed in private
collections in the United States of America, Canada, Japan, Germany,
South African Republic, Republic of Poland, Greece, Russia, and
Ukraine. Currently, Valery Sigayev lives and works in Kiev, Ukraine.
