Can you explain the concept, the idea of your monument?

If one were to describe my concepts in a simple way, then it is possible to talk about the breaking of one big country into fifteen pieces. The figure of Yeltsin stands on the top of tilting Russia, the remaining overturned figures are all of us in that period. In the 90s our country found itself in a state of destruction and collapse, millions of people experienced the feeling of overturning and of hanging over an abyss. As if the gigantic protective armour cracked and began to break up into pieces and into the appearing cracks the flood of uncertainty poured, mixing everything up.

The sculpture, according to the concept, should be made in metal, covered with black mirror-like enamel, in which floating clouds, figures of upside-down people and faces of staring passers-by are reflected. In this way the monument melts into reality and becomes its organic part.

Many speak out against the creation of such a monument to Boris Yeltsin – what do you think about it?

I was making a monument to the 90s' epoch, not a tombstone for Boris Nikolayevich. If one were to combine this monument only with the image of the concrete man, it is probable that he may appear too brutal and gloomy, especially to Yeltsin's relatives. However, the figure of the president of the country, in some way, belongs to each of us, the time of his rule is divided into the pieces of our lives, whole phases.

Here, by the way, a general problem appears – everyone knows that the monument represents the realistic figure of a man. It is, as a rule, a bronze idol, very similar to the original, but slightly larger… We almost do not have any brave unexpected modern sculptures, stirring up the imagination and arousing ambiguous reaction.

Why did you take part in this semi-political project?

I do not make topical art, I am interested in creating my own picture of the world, in understanding, with the help of art, the processes happening in my consciousness, but not in being involved in social reflection. But on this occasion I made an exception for myself, because a very complex and unexpected task stood before me – to try in one work to embody the whole phase of my own life and the life of my own country. Moreover, the theme of the conflict between order and chaos, the collapse of stability is always interesting.