Melnikov Ilya Vasilievich (Melnik)
Was born on July 18, 2001 in the city of Penza. Studied at the Lyceum of Architecture and Design # 3 in Penza. In some year he entered the art school. V.E. Tatlin.

"Most of my life I wanted to study architecture, but in my senior year I changed my mind and decided to enter an art school. I chose the profession of a theater artist, since I did not study painting, and at the theater faculty, at least a minimum skill in layout design is desirable, which I did in the lyceum in design lessons and extracurricular activities in the studio at the same lyceum.

I always liked graphics and did not like painting, probably it started from school time, there were a lot of classes in design, architecture, drawing. So it remains to this day, I am not close to painting, color selection, mixing paints and more.
In my works, I want to talk about global things that concern each and every one. Not about everyday life, but about something more comprehensive, deep.
I would also like to achieve a balance between the theme of the work and the artistic image, the search for a compromise between aesthetics and expression.

The world now lacks common sense, for example, and my work is about this.
I do not aspire to be in a particular art scene. Rather, it is necessary for the promotion of work. The term “art” is not close to me, in the modern world it is interpreted in different ways; I want to remain the least involved in this "skillful" world, so I think it is important to be creative, not art.
A small number of people are enough for me. Most of the time, I prefer to be alone, it helps to stay in myself and keep my head in order.
At the same time, the image of a conventional bohemian artist is not close to me, on the contrary, I want to be a person who does not show that he is an artist.
It's important to be critical of yourself.
To the technique in which I work, no matter how presumptuous it may sound, I came myself: in ink on canvas. I am not a fan of painting, but I liked to touch the canvas as a material, and I also found some practical qualities that were useful to me in creating works.
There are difficulties with ink: I need to do it initially without any slightest flaws. There is a certain liveliness in this.
When I start work, I already know what the final result should be, and while it is gone, no one should see my picture".