I was born on 16th December, 1964 in Kafen, a small forestry village in Khabarovsk region. By the end of the 1960s the forest industry in that area was exhausted and thus with my parents I was travelling across the country to the west, to Voroshilovgrad (now Lugansk) region, to a small mining community of Sabovka. That’s in Ukraine. There, on 1st September, 1971 I went to Primary 1.
My Primary 2 experience, however, started in Siberia, in the town of Mariinsk, Kemerovo region; here I successfully finished the secondary school Nr.12.
After graduating from school I attempted to enter The College of Arts in Irkutsk, but failed my last exam. To spend a year somehow I learned to drive at driving classes in organisation called DOSAAF (Assistance to Army, Aviation and Fleet), worked as a fireman, and in 1983 was finally accepted to The College of Arts. Yet, six months later I had to quit my studies due to “family reasons”.
On 5th May, 1984 I was conscripted to the Soviet Army. I served, without breaks and leaves, in Amurskaia oblast, town of Zavitinsk, military base N55053.
I was a gunlayer initially, then a commander of the tank, then a stoker, and finally – a senior operator and electrician of the tank training area. In April of 1986 I was released from the Army in the rank of a senior sergeant.
Two years in the Army were followed by a year of unsuccessful attempts to fix my family life. Thereupon I started yet another attempt to enter The College of Arts in Irkutsk and after passing exams I was accepted to the second year. In the autumn of 1989, due to many various reasons, I withdrew from studies, yet again, this time for good.
In 1990 as a result of head injury, I lost my sight entirely, without remains of visual faculty. Half a year later, having got adapted to darkness, I returned to my paints and brushes. My first exhibition was in August 1991 in Irkutsk. After this turning point there were many more exhibitions, personally and with my participation, both in Russia and abroad.
In the spring of 1996 I got married to an Austrian woman in the civil office in Moscow. Then, with my son from first marriage, we moved to Vienna. My son in the summer of 2008 became an Austrian citizen, yet I am still a citizen of Russia, one who lives abroad.