Noi Volkov considers himself both a sculptor and a painter. He has many wonderful works of art on his website, but it’s his famous artist tribute teapots that I want to bring to you today. He has this magical way of deconstructing the artists’ works and the artists themselves and putting them back together in completely new ways. I feel like the artist would wholeheartedly approve of what he’s done to them and their work.

Born in 1947 Agapovka , Russia, Volkov reported that the Russian government prevented artists from seeing the work of artists from the West.

“Self-expression wasn’t allowed. Artists were seen as servants of the state. We were only allowed to paint what the government said we could paint.” -Noi Volkov to The Baltimore Sun

He attributes his love for famous Western painters to a reaction to the early-in-life restrictions he endured. In the early nineties, Volkov moved to the U.S. and has been living in Maryland ever since.

“My work isn’t like the work of any one artist, but it has qualities and features of several. When I discovered Picasso and Dali it changed my mentality. I fell in love with contemporary art. My own work became more complicated.”

I had a devil of a time figuring out what to include, or, more to the point, what to exclude. Besides being wildly talented, he’s also amazingly prolific. I really recommend you go spend a happy hour on his website. It’s like art geek heaven!

All images are the property of Noi Volkov.