BIO

Michael Bykovski is an artist whose work investigates constructed surfaces, geological memory, transparency, and spatial compression. Trained at RISD in both fine art and architecture, he uses oil, canvas, and glass to build abstract fields that hover between landscape, artifact, and architectural section. Bykovski has exhibited at locations such as the Sausalito Center for the Arts, NCY Art Expo, and Red Dot Miami. Michael was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and is currently based in San Francisco, California, with a studio in the iconic Bryant Street Studios. 

STATEMENT

My work expresses vivid qualities of the natural world such as the subtle blue gradations of water, geological formations, and intricate patterns of root formations. I investigate and express the subconscious which exists outside of the descriptive qualities of language, and images and memories of the natural world forge the essence of my work. I believe that the direct experience of viewing a landscape is itself an experience of abstraction, and once narrative and symbolic meaning are stripped away, the landscape is seen through atmospheric perspective, shapes of land or water, hue and value as affected by time of day. The vivid intensity of the landscapes that inspire my works are expressed through rich textures, fields of color, and soft geometric shapes. The resulting images establish a balance between life-like, naturalistic imagery and abstract compositions. 

As a Russian émigré, I have been inspired by both the American schools of Abstract Expressionism and the Russian Avant-Garde of the 1920s. My first mentor, Victor Skersis, a well-known figure in the school of Moscow Conceptualism, taught me the importance of questioning conventions and finding a sense of the unexpected, with humor and critical thinking. These inspirations are manifest in my process, where I begin by outlining the geometric relationships of the overall composition, and then introduce spontaneity and rapid gestural movement to bring each piece to life. My relationship with nature and memory is further inspired by my childhood experiences in the Russian countryside and my travels of the American West. My richest memories are of the time spent in my family Dacha, or country house, creating the foundation of my passion for nature and landscape painting.

My work also parallels my practice as an architect, as I see painting as a three-dimensional assembly of parts, not a two-dimensional image. I frequently work between canvas and glass to explore the contrast between richly built-up textures, sharply defined contours and fields of color, engaging with paint as a sculptural medium. Using the transparency of glass to reveal the “underside” of a painting is analogous to an architectural “section cut”, which is a drawing through an object revealing the core and shell, as well as vertical spatial relationships. Glass is also an architectural construction material, not typically used as a painting surface but as a protective element. Phenomenological aspects of the natural world emerge through the layers of my paintings, revealing strata like architectural sections or geological excavations.