Aug 23, 2026 · 1 hr 23 min · 14 segments
In this episode of The Unfinished Line, Russell turns the questions on co-host and sculptor Maksim Kuznetcov, exploring the experiences and ideas that shaped his artistic practice.Maksim talks about…
Maksim KuznetcovGuest
Russell AustinHost
Now I want to know where that leads into sculpture, and what you've taken from the chemist days into being an alchemist, in a way,
you know? I know chemistry is very creative, like research, especially, and I love synthetic chemistry, is where you mix and stuff, not theoretic chemistry or not in organic chemistry, but...
it brings you much closer to life and you know you're trying to recreate tiny tiny part of nature in your flask in a controlled way with predictable outcomes so i guess it's not that dissimilar from art I mean, in art, you have to learn a lot and have good technique.
In practice, in the lab, you have to learn a lot and have good lab technique to be able to run experiments.
Not many people can actually do practical experiments because you need good hands to do that and mind and be interested in that.
not be scared to get dirty and you know and it's a bit dangerous too and stinky and so it there is this kind of parallels it's quite physical being a research chemist
Well, I can also see the confidence in using materials like silicons and things that you use now in mould making.
The additions you add to your reliefs, you know, you've got a confidence in adding these materials.
Some part of my sort of foundational scientific knowledge I use on a daily basis for many things, not just in my art, but just thinking, okay, will this paint work with this if I mix it? Kind of basic, maybe not so basic, maybe intermediate knowledge of material science and basic chemistry.
What do you want to communicate through your sculptures? Is any of that technical part of your chemistry world infused into the communication and the concept behind your work, or is it just part of the technical side to create something totally different?
Maybe there will be a day when I combine the two, but I don't think it has come yet.
What I try to communicate with my art usually comes out of my... kind of interest in the emotional states that we all have, in the human emotional states.
And so the inner life of a man, broadly speaking, that's what interests me.
And the metaphors that I can convey through maybe some symbolic gestures or figure combination in my sculptures, that's what I try to do with my art a lot.
And so for these sculptures like the one in progress behind you is my attempt to show the connection with the animal world and the human.
But there are others like my reflection, one of the bigger works that I've done, my recent ones, is a reflection of the corporate world and the modern world more generally through the sculpture that I made called Disconnection and it doesn't directly speak or describe the emotion, but my attempt was to recreate the emotion that people would feel viewing that sculpture in the metaphorical form that I observed for many, many years working in business, in corporations, in the city centers.
Now I want to know where that leads into sculpture, and what you've taken from the chemist days into being an alchemist, in a way,
you know? I know chemistry is very creative, like research, especially, and I love synthetic chemistry, is where you mix and stuff, not theoretic chemistry or not in organic chemistry, but...
it brings you much closer to life and you know you're trying to recreate tiny tiny part of nature in your flask in a controlled way with predictable outcomes so i guess it's not that dissimilar from art I mean, in art, you have to learn a lot and have good technique.
In practice, in the lab, you have to learn a lot and have good lab technique to be able to run experiments.
Not many people can actually do practical experiments because you need good hands to do that and mind and be interested in that.
not be scared to get dirty and you know and it's a bit dangerous too and stinky and so it there is this kind of parallels it's quite physical being a research chemist
Well, I can also see the confidence in using materials like silicons and things that you use now in mould making.
The additions you add to your reliefs, you know, you've got a confidence in adding these materials.
Some part of my sort of foundational scientific knowledge I use on a daily basis for many things, not just in my art, but just thinking, okay, will this paint work with this if I mix it? Kind of basic, maybe not so basic, maybe intermediate knowledge of material science and basic chemistry.
What do you want to communicate through your sculptures? Is any of that technical part of your chemistry world infused into the communication and the concept behind your work, or is it just part of the technical side to create something totally different?
Maybe there will be a day when I combine the two, but I don't think it has come yet.
What I try to communicate with my art usually comes out of my... kind of interest in the emotional states that we all have, in the human emotional states.
And so the inner life of a man, broadly speaking, that's what interests me.
And the metaphors that I can convey through maybe some symbolic gestures or figure combination in my sculptures, that's what I try to do with my art a lot.
And so for these sculptures like the one in progress behind you is my attempt to show the connection with the animal world and the human.
But there are others like my reflection, one of the bigger works that I've done, my recent ones, is a reflection of the corporate world and the modern world more generally through the sculpture that I made called Disconnection and it doesn't directly speak or describe the emotion, but my attempt was to recreate the emotion that people would feel viewing that sculpture in the metaphorical form that I observed for many, many years working in business, in corporations, in the city centers.
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