Interview Directory 

ART/DÜSSELDORF

Name: Maxim Wakultschik

Residence: Düsseldorf

"The enthusiasm triggered by a picture that is created on various emotional levels will move the viewer for centuries."

LF: Mr Wakultschik, how would you describe your creative process?

As a mathematician, I think in maximalist terms. In your head, you fly higher and higher, and when you reach the end point, you see the globality. That's very important, because that's where the little things are suppressed. I touch the wooden sticks with my hand, then the luminous substances, just as they are in a human cell under the microscope. It's a game with chemical processes. We are between life and death. 

As a young person, you should learn a lot. If you want to create something, you have to collect everything, not criticise anything, write down every idea, no matter how crazy. That's how I work, I write down my first thoughts, feelings and emotions first. If I were to discard them immediately, I could make a mistake. Life can give you something that you only realise later was the right thing to do. Certain forces take care of you, I can't explain it any better. 

A new exhibition is like a baby to me. The fulfilment of my daily creative work is my greatest personal happiness. This is also how I deal with disappointment. I observed a colleague who was dissatisfied, even depressed, because she hadn't sold a painting. I say: if you have too high expectations, it limits your own strengths. You have to put your commercial interests to one side. First and foremost, you have to develop creatively, share what God has given you and enjoy this energy. People will sense this in your pictures and will be happy to buy them. Put simply, you must not put the cart before the horse. The horse is creation, happiness and the heart. 

‘I wanted to create a work of art that would involve all our senses, because we live in a three-dimensional world. I want people to feel, smell and hear my art. So I reduced my works further and further until I reached a point.‘

How did you come up with the wooden sticks?

That's why I admire football commentators, because they tell, tell, tell, and I wish I could tell you everything about every little thing. But I never prepare for interviews and my whole team is shaking. People say I only do portraits with wooden sticks, but that's not true. I create an illusion of swirls of light at points that are a birth of life. Later in my life I also want to do landscapes and architecture, I want to make films. I would like to make theatre. But above all, I want to understand the processes in my head, make them more precise and hit the target. To be free and not be afraid. 

I called my diploma thesis ‘Prelude to Light’. The interior architecture of a church with a play of light and shadow, a cubism. Here in the studio, I imagined a chessboard on which a vibration was created. I tried to integrate a light and then add a relief. The result was an iconographic calendar of saints. But I asked myself, why should I do it with saints, because my family and friends were the saints for me. Over the years, I simulated this on the computer. I wanted to create a work of art that would involve all our senses, because we live in a three-dimensional world. I want people to feel, smell and hear my art. So I reduced my works further and further until I reached a point. Then I thought I could reproduce this point with something like a nail. I tried many different things and finally came up with a wooden sticks. They are easy to insert and are very durable. They are elegant because they are slightly pointed at the front and have a light base. You can see the light, the little spheres in which life is created. When you move to the side, the wooden sticks overlap and you can clearly see the image in photographic terms. In contrast to kinetic art, the viewer has to move with the pictures.

Maxim Wakultschik bei seinem Atelier ©L.F.

How exactly does the working process work?

First a structure is created, not the portrait. Then the portrait is placed on top as the final stage. For me, it is important to create vibrations and a play of colours. All the sketches are done on the computer, but that's not enough. A friend wrote a computer programme for me for the wooden pencils, but it doesn't work. In the working process, I need about 20 sketches for one picture, then I decide what is good and what is bad and mark the pictures with an asterisk. Then I need some distance, meet up with friends and re-evaluate my sketches and make another selection. Sometimes 1 week to 1 year. The picture that got the most stars touched me the most, you could even say it drove me crazy, no matter what state I was in, tired, happy or sad. The enthusiasm triggered by a painting that has been created on different emotional levels will move viewers for centuries. 

I demand from my works of art that they evoke enthusiasm in me, that I find myself in a state of euphoria. Just like Leonardo da Vinci and Rubens, who still move people timelessly today. That's what I want to achieve with my art and also to make the problems of life that surround us seem a little easier.

‘At school, I was against the system and wanted to see the other side 180 degrees. I want to be unique and only create unique works.‘

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I like to go to concerts because I love music very much, also as an element of influence. My artwork is meant to put people in a pure, happy state. It encourages me to keep going when people tell me about positive feelings. That I leave things on the path of life that make people calmer and happier. I dream of making a philosophical, crazy film that will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival. My father worked in the film industry, so it's in my genes. At school, I was against the system and wanted to see the other side 180 degrees. I want to be unique and only create unique works. If I see that an artist has already done something, I won't do it. It helps in creative processes to reverse the normal ways. 

Are you from Russia? 

In Russia, after primary school, I went to a boarding school where art and music were taught. We had 6-8 hours of art every day.

Was there any pressure?

It was fun. 

‘No matter where I am, I'm always thinking about art.‘

How do you deal with the success now?

I need more assistants. When I make myself known in a new country, for which I now have two secretaries, the demand always increases. I sometimes think that maybe I should open a factory (laughs). I used to think that with success comes more free time or freedom, but that's becoming more and more difficult. I have less and less time, I'm a workaholic. No matter where I am, I'm always thinking about art. 

‘My paintings are so valuable to me that I don't want to sell some of my artworks. Not for money.‘

Which galleries do you work with?

My main focus is in Germany, but I also have a gallery in London, among other places. At art fairs, visitors want to buy paintings, but I have to tell them that they are already going to certain galleries or other fairs. Some paintings are not intended for sale, but to be shown at fairs and galleries worldwide. This is very important to me because my artwork is very labour intensive, very time consuming and material intensive. My paintings are so valuable to me that I don't want to sell some of my artworks. Not for any money in the world.

‘Sometimes, when I hear Maxim!, Maxim!, I hide in a corner so as not to be touched.‘

And the hype that surrounds you?

You go through different stages in life. Each stage is good, pleasant and interesting in its own way. Fame gives you a lot of comfort, you are always warmly welcomed, you save time. Sometimes, when I hear Maxim!, Maxim!, I hide in a corner so as not to be touched. Then I make a ‘Polish exit’ and leave without saying goodbye. Fame also means that people talk, even a lot of the wrong things. Everyone is only concerned with themselves and the others just go along with it. Once you know that, it's easier to deal with it. 

‘According to my philosophical approach, life is born and a new being is born in the dots in my paintings.‘

You almost only paint women? 

Firstly, I am heterosexual. The god of fertility is female and not male. According to my philosophical approach, life is born and a new being is born in the dots in my paintings. They are angelic beings, because before Adam and Eve there were only androgynous people on earth who existed as angels. These angelic faces are supposed to lead back to the origin, the Big Bang.

How do you feel in your studio in Düsseldorf?

There are about 3500 artists in Düsseldorf and we all concentrate on our own work. I don't have many social contacts with other artists because I live my intense life. Fate led me to study art at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf. At that time, Russia fell apart and I stayed here. In 200 kilometres I am in Amsterdam and Luxembourg and in 600 kilometres in Paris, Munich, Berlin - Düsseldorf is a centre of Europe. The centre of Düsseldorf is also compact. Some of my friends have moved to Berlin. If I had to do something in Berlin, it would take me a day. In Düsseldorf, I can be anywhere in an hour, I can do everything, which is ideal for me as a mathematician.

-----

Maxim Wakultschik bei seiner Vernissage in der Galerie Christian Marx ©L.F.