Isupov is a master of nonlinear narration. Combined with his unmatched, masterful skills as both painter and sculptor, the resulting works draw from the past and reflect on the present. Semi-autobiographical, Isupov’s intimate narratives interweave poignant representations of men and women, parents and children, shown alongside one another, their pets pointing to the naive sense of security we hold in our daily lives. These works explore individual, interior landscapes and the continually expanding dualities of the self within complex psychological relationships. Intensely personal yet universal, these works in the context of the present day, remind and call upon us to value, protect and preserve the precarious balance we all stand to lose at any present moment.

(b. 1963, Stavropol, USSR, lives in USA, Estonia)

Isupov is the son of a painter and sculptor. While born in Stravapole, Russia in 1963, Isupov was raised in Ukraine from 1964, educated in Kyiv, and moved to attend the university of art in Tallinn, Estonia in 1984 at a time when these now separate countries were part of the USSR. In 1994 he immigrated to the United States. Isupov has a long international resume with work included in numerous collections and exhibitions, including the National Gallery of Australia, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (TX), Museum of Arts and Design (NY), Racine Art Museum (WI) and Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MA).

His work is featured in numerous books, catalogs and magazines including Postmodern Ceramics, Sex Pots: Eroticism in Ceramics, The Ceramic Surface; Shy Boy, She-Devil, and Isis: The Art of Conceptual Craft; Confrontational Ceramics. He teaches workshops and lectures internationally at museums, universities, and art centers. Recent residencies include Archie Bray Foundation, Helena (MT), The International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemét, Hungary, and Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør, Denmark.

In 2001 was awarded the Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award. He works in porcelain using traditional hand-building and sculpting techniques to combine surface and form with narrative painting using stains and clear glaze.

Isupov’s family, his father, mother and brother, all established artists, currently reside in Kyiv, Ukraine. With the backdrop of the current war there and threats of Russian aggression in Estonia, Isupov’s studio work took on an urgency to counter the overwhelming anxiety and concern for his family facing down threats to their safety and the loss of their formerly peaceful lives. Now, with his wife, artist Kadri Pärnaments and their daughter Roosi, they divide their time between two studios/homes in the USA and Estonia.

“I am a student of the universe and a participant in the harmonic chaos of contrasts and opposites: dark – light; male-female; good – evil. Working instinctually and using my observations, I create a new, intimate universe that reveals the relationships, connections and contradictions as I perceive them. I find clay to be the most versatile material and it is well suited to the expression of my ideas. I consider my sculptures to be a canvas for my paintings. All the plastic, graphic and painting elements of a piece function as complementary parts of the work.”

Often called an erotic Surrealist for his daring representations of sexuality, relationships, and human encounter, Isupov takes narrative subject matter and merges it with ceramic sculptural form. Drawing on personal experience, and human observation, he creates works that integrate autobiography with universal narrative.

He states, “Everything that surrounds and excites me is automatically processed and transformed into…an artwork. […] The essence of my work is not in the medium or the creative process, but in the human beings and their incredible diversity. When I think of myself and my works, I’m not sure I create them, perhaps they create me.”

While the robust, and racially distinct facial traits make each sculpture unique, they also make the body of work capable of representing universal experiences. The bold color palette, heavily tattooed faces, and textured surfaces relate these works to the aesthetics of traditional Russian art, as well as to contemporary styles of illustration.

“My work portrays characters placed in situations that are drawn from my imagination but based on my life experiences.  My artworks capture a composite of fleeting moments, hand gestures, eye movements that follow and reveal the sentiments expressed.  These details are all derived from actual observations but are gathered or collected over my lifetime.  Through the drawn images and sculpted forms, I capture faces, body types and use symbolic elements to compose, in the same way as you might create a collage.  These ideas drift and migrate throughout my work without direct regard to specific individuals, chronology or geography.  Universalism is implied and personal interpretation expected.   Through my work I get to report about and explore human encounters, comment on the relationships between man and woman, and eventually their sexual union that leads to the final outcome – the passing on of DNA which is the ultimate collection – a combined set of genes and a new life, represented in the child.”