Igor Bilykivskij

Ukraine

Born in 1953 in Lviv, Ukraine. Attended Studio of Fine Arts in Lviv. Has participated in Small Graphic and Exlibris exhibitions since 1994. Uses mostly techniques of litography and etching.

“‘Reaching the top self-dependently’— that’s my motto. My studies of art of drawing and painting took place in private studios.

All my achievements are based on wondering: if I can? So, at the beginning of the1990s I taught myself and mastered the technique of lithography, and since that time began making bookplates. Since 2000 I taught myself etching technique, so bookplates made before 2000 are made in the technique of lithography, and after 2000 in the etching technique.

“Simple things that surround us can be used to form the image of the book mark. For example, the usual rope if it was worked by thought and imagination, can be transformed into the image of the heart, and the knots on the rope will fix certain situations that convey the general idea of the sign—and it starts talking to the audience.

“Now I work in etching technique, and the work at each sign brings me crazy fun, because I never know until the end of the work what final image it will get, and what like will be the end of this action. This is the magic, and I am a magician.”