“Though as an artist I was educated in an art school with a strong classical tradition and canon, I was always looking for ways to change my approach to classical painting and create another reality through my works rather than recreate the world around me. I was never much interested in putting on canvas objects and stories that I see, be it Makhachkala, Moscow, or New York. The essence of the artistic process to me is in reimagining reality or in fantasizing another world that might be inspired by real events or my memories, but does not rely on their reenactment.
The experience of coming of age in an ethnically diverse Makhachkala situated between the sea and the mountains of the North Caucasus largely influenced my way into art and has affected my experimenting with paints, colors, themes and the technique of my works.
Later during my studies and life in Russia, I was getting my inspiration from the artists of the Leningrad art school of the 1920-1940s, especially Andrey Mylnikov and Evsey Moiseenko. My migration experience has also reverberated my practice, mostly the way I revisit some scenes and landscapes from my childhood by turning them into unreachable, slightly dreamlike lands. However, my works aren’t based on nostalgia and dwelling on the past - I would describe myself as a curious artist constantly looking for my own changing artistic language and moved by the ability of art to always surprise us - both audiences and artists.”
-Sergei Saakian