Mikhail Dvornikov – woodcarver

Biography

Mikhail Dvornikov has always lived in Bogorodskoye, a village about 90km from Moscow. This is the heartland of Russian woodcarving of animated toys, known as Bogorodskaya Toys, and the only area in Russia where these are made. His father was a brilliant craftsman who could work equally well in various materials, including iron, bricks, glass and, of course, wood. Aged about 8 or 9, Mikhail started using his joinery tools to work on pieces of wood. The purity of wood, its rich colours, fragrance and texture, which Mikhail planed and sanded to make his first creations, enchanted him and its magic has stayed with him all his life. He would go to the forest, collect pieces from different trees, polish them and examine their beauty and unique internal patterns and textures. When he was 17, he saw and touched the carved, golden decorations of a thirteenth-century icon in a nearby Orthodox church: it was at that moment that he knew that his life would be spent as a woodcarver. Mikhail finished his course of studies at the Bogorodskoye Studio of Art Wooden Carving when he was 20 and has been a carver ever since. He has exhibited in many countries including Germany, England and France. Examples of his work can be seen in the museums of Moscow, St Petersburg, Sergiev-Posad, Sumy and Leipzig.