Aleksandr Urvachev
- May 15
- 4 min read
Aleksandr Urvachev is a Russian artist and illustrator based in Barcelona. He grew up in Kaliningrad and moved to Spain unexpectedly in 2022. The move changed everything. He started making erotic art for the first time, something he had not allowed himself before. He works in acrylic, oil and drawing, building up surfaces and scratching back into them. His project Edge started when he could not paint after arriving and picked up a pencil instead. He is now working on Miracles Today, a series based on Catalan votive painting.
Q: You grew up in Russia and landed in Barcelona. Tell us a bit about that journey and how it's shaped your work.
A: I moved to Barcelona in 2022. It happened rather unexpectedly, even forcibly, but it was love at first sight. I was born and raised in Kaliningrad and spent a lot of time in Poland and Lithuania as a child, always dreaming of moving to Europe. I never imagined it would happen this way, but I believe everything turned out for the best. In Barcelona, my art changed significantly, in ways I hadn’t previously considered necessary. Here I feel complete creative freedom. This is especially true in the field of erotic art: before, I couldn’t allow myself to explore it, but now it has become one of the key themes without which I don’t see myself as an honest artist or person.
I also began to feel a need for community. In Russia, I was comfortable simply painting and taking private commissions, but now I want to present myself publicly, probably because I finally have the possibility to express myself sincerely and without censorship.
Q: The "Edge" project has been going since 2023 and includes both oil paintings and marker drawings. What ties it together?
A: The “Edge” project is deeply shaped by migration. It began four months after my move, and the oil triptych became my first oil painting after a six-month break. This had never happened to me before: during the first months, I couldn’t return to painting and felt the need to speak only through drawing.
The first works were pencil drawings on scraps of paper, depicting a semicircular tunnel with a horizon inside. This image symbolizes a quiet, protected space within consciousness that one can return to when chaos surrounds us. It is a “window” into inner harmony, a memory of silence.
What matters to me is that the semicircle seems cut from one plane and inserted into another: its clear boundaries oppose the surrounding turbulence. The project includes works in different techniques, as I explore how this “edge” behaves in various conditions and how it almost always prevails, offering confidence. It is not escapism, but a way of supporting oneself during constant change and crisis.
Q: Old Friend is about encountering something unexpectedly familiar in another culture. What's the personal story behind that piece?
A: I have always been drawn to African folk culture, and this painting resulted from a trip to Fez, Morocco. The experience was unlike anything else: a mix of emotions, from aesthetic fascination to uncertainty in an unfamiliar culture.
Antique shops felt like paradise to me. Among beads, kettles, silver, and ceramics, my eye caught a dusty terracotta mask on a high shelf. It had large empty eyes that nevertheless looked very confident, clearly asserting their presence. Something in that gaze felt familiar. The mask was too large to take with me, so I only photographed it.
Years later, the image resurfaced. I was listening to the soundtrack of Only Lovers Left Alive and scrolling through old photos. When I saw that gaze again, I understood I wanted to capture it. What attracts me most is the abyss in its eyes — an endless depth and a quiet, positive certainty.
Q: You build up your surfaces and then scratch back into them, erase, start again. What does that back and forth look like in practice?
A: This process unites many of my works, even if they appear quite different. I like achieving complexity of surface, combining raw and dry techniques, rubbing paint into the canvas, and working with underlayers.
I often use grattage, covering surfaces with oil pastel and scratching through the top layer. I also use the back of the brush to introduce hatching, and sandpaper to create grain and softness.
This may also be my way of dealing with the fear of the blank page: I feel more comfortable working with a “secondary” surface and reinterpreting existing textures. In this way, the work gains breath and history. The layering process adds another level of perception, capturing the working process itself — complex and uneven.
Q: You've mentioned folklore as an inspiration. What stories or traditions are you drawn to right now?
A: Right now, I am working on a series called “Miracles Today.” It is essentially an interpretation of the ex-voto tradition, specifically Catalan votive painting. These small panels beautifully combine folk and religious art. They are naive and sincere, telling stories about real life, about people’s sorrows and hopes.
Q: You've been showing regularly in Barcelona the last couple of years. What's next?
A: I would very much like to present a solo exhibition. I currently have several extensive projects I would like to share: “Edge,” as well as “Traces,” a large erotic series exploring natural processes and moments that often escape our attention but can reveal much about ourselves.
In addition, I would like to work as a book illustrator. Drawing is a separate passion of mine, perhaps even deeper than painting.
