Diploma Preview: Russian Poor

As part of their thesis collection, the artist explores the intersections between Arte Povera and the Russian notion of quotidian «poor art.» The project addresses the phenomenon of everyday life and materials bearing the traces of human experience—things usually unperceived as aesthetic. Much like the artists of the Arte Povera movement, the author seeks to reconstruct the value system by shifting the focus from glossy surfaces to the vital materiality and «memory» of objects. Arte Povera became a gesture of resistance against consumer culture—a return to the materials that surround people in their daily lives.

The second look in the collection simultaneously references the phenomenon of Arte Povera and the phenomenon of Russian «poor» creativity. Continuing the idea from the first look in the collection teaser—where knitted rugs served as a symbol of recycling and domestic labor—this look develops the theme of material second life and the transformation of everyday objects into a conceptual statement.

Much like the woven mats—objects created from leftover material, old belongings, and often almost trash—the jacket is constructed from white-dyed suede pieced together from remnants of hides. As a result of the bleaching process, the hides’ surface acquires a wrinkled, heterogeneous texture, where traces of deformation and the material’s texture become an expressive medium, embodying the material’s rebirth.

The rounded and distorted silhouettes of the jacket and trousers, along with the twisted tailoring elements, reference the visual rhythm and spiral structure of woven mats, while also uniting the ideas of repetition and cyclicity—key motifs found in both everyday practices and the works of Arte Povera artists.

Trousers crafted from leather scraps combined with fur continue the concept of assemblage and the second life of materials. Due to the voluminous cut and drawstrings at the bottom, the silhouette takes on a form reminiscent of a garbage bag. The piece serves as a direct statement within the collection’s concept: materials traditionally perceived as waste or leftovers are recontextualized and become an expressive element, where «poverty» transforms into an artistic methodology.

The second image in the collection unites the themes of recycling, material memory, and manual labor, where material remnants become the foundation for a new form. The surface, texture, and traces of processing keep the transformation process visible, turning residual material into an expressive artistic medium. In this context, the image continues the exploration of the aesthetics of the «poor» material, where scarcity and recycling become not a limitation, but a method for creating new visual and material forms.