From a dark room in a small town in the Chuvash Republic, visual artist Skinny Gaviar is hard at work creating uncanny illustrations using only a mouse, self-taught techniques and a vivid imagination. Finding inspiration from uninspired photographs of friends and strangers, Gaviar is amassing a digital motley crew.
By Ananda Pellerin
How did you get started in digital art? It’s hard to say because it just happened. I was messing around with Photoshop and it kinda worked out. I can’t draw by hand, I draw like a child, but computers give you the ability to correct all your mistakes. Most digital artists use a graphic tablet but I draw with a mouse. This is art so everything works.
Where do you get your images from? Most of my art is taken from those pictures which you delete or never print because they’re not interesting or there’s something wrong with them. I come across old photos and see a way to make them better; even if it’s a dull image.
Where’s the Chuvash Republic? It’s a small republic inside of Russia. The town I grew up in is 20 minutes away from the place I’m in now, which is called Cheboksary. It’s the capital of the Chuvash Republic and nobody knows about it, even in Russia. We have our own language and culture and history and president. I was born here, but my parents are from other places so I’m Russian to the bone. I don’t speak the local language and the whole culture has nothing to do with me.
So, why do you still live there? I don’t know, I was born here, I went to school here and I never actually travelled before I turned 21. I guess I’m used to being here, and I hate Moscow, it’s like a big toilet; too many people, too loud, too noisy. It’s a typical big town but probably the worst of them.
You recently did a postcard project with the writer Dake. What’s that about? Dake is a good friend of mine, we went to college together. Last summer he came to visit and he broke his leg, so he got stuck in town for like, two months. Once, at a bar, soaking every single one of our cells in all types of alcohol, we came up with the idea of combining his writing with my new stuff. He took one of the postcard-sized prints of my work and shoved it into the typewriter he carries around with him and typed something on the back. We decided to call the result Elements of Art. We made two or three dozen of these Elements over a fortnight, stamped them and sent them to people in different countries.
Also a few years back we tried to do a rock opera with a bunch of local musicians but it never worked out. To be honest it was a bit chauvinistic, that’s probably why it never worked out.
Where do you look for inspiration? I don’t really follow anything happening in art today and I don’t go to galleries. I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to art but I have some favourites. One of them is Andy Ewen, he’s an artist from Madison, Wisconsin, and a good friend of mine. It was Andy who encouraged me to do what I’m doing.
And I like Ian Stevenson a lot. We happened to both do some artwork for a magazine called Bitchslap, and when I saw his stuff it was a revelation. He has his own style and that’s rare these days because many artists just copy each other.
Other than that, I watch a lot of British sitcoms. Fawlty Towers is one of my favourites. Black Books, and Extras, and some less awesome ones like Doc Martin. I got addicted to Green Wing. British humour is a real gem but I think it has a bad name in Russia because when you say British humour, people think of Benny Hill.
What's Russian TV like? It’s the worst; just remakes of everything from the US, and in a very bad quality way. I stopped watching TV about four years ago. I spend most of my time in total darkness so I use the TV as a source of light. When you’re drawing something on your computer it’s much more comfortable when it’s dark. They say it’s bad for the eyes and I know it because when you spend the whole day staring at your computer in the dark, it hurts. I spend one day of the week just lying on my back with a wet towel over my eyes because they get so dry. 
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