In July 2018, I had the honor of receiving an invitation alongside Elena Shipitsina, Director of the Ekaterinburg Gallery of Modern Art, to oversee an exhibition contest named LomoSphere. This unique event took place in the unassuming industrial town of Polevskoy, nestled close to the Ural mountains in Russia.

The premise of the competition revolved around the utilization of scrap metal in the creation of artworks by ordinary metallurgical workers. Our role was to nurture and guide their innate artistic expressions, and subsequently curate an exhibition within the confines of the Severnaya Domna Museum, culminating in a celebration of their collective efforts.

Simultaneously, I was presented with the opportunity to craft an illustrative piece on the scrap metal storage premises, using a mélange of disparate materials. Over a span of three days, my assistant and I meticulously assembled this object, a product of fortuitous discoveries and artistic improvisation.

The sculpture, christened “Eclipse,” stands proudly at approximately 6 meters in height, bearing a weight of approximately half a ton. Its conception was drawn from the awe-inspiring natural occurrences of solar and lunar eclipses, an homage captured in the sculpture’s form.