A stroke of luck led to a laser art workshop becoming a reality, claims Ksenia Navolotskaya, an engineer at ITMO’s Institute of Laser Technologies, who grew interested in art & science when still studying at Herzen University’s Faculty of Art History and Education.
“I learned about laser labeling and the laser brush at ITMO’s Institute of Laser Technologies; the latter is a device made by the institute’s experts that uses optical effects, rather than paint, to create color images on metals. Around the same time, Vadim Veiko, the project’s mastermind, proposed using this technology in art because lasers can be employed for any material as long as the right laser or more specifically the right laser wavelength is employed. Given that the equipment of this sort is rather expensive and takes some knowledge to use, we decided to open a space where artists can work on their projects alongside process engineers, and Alexey Feskov, the head of ITMO’s Technopark Fab Lab, later brought forth the idea of a separate workshop,” says Ksenia Navolotskaya.
Ksenia Navolotskaya. Photo by Dmitry Grigoryev / ITMO NEWS
The workshop provides tours and masterclasses for students and adults interested in learning more about the institute’s educational programs, laser technologies, and projects, as well as acquiring hands-on experience on laser equipment. During these sessions, participants attempt to replicate paintings by renowned artists using, among other tools, the only laser brush in Russia. The tool can paint on metallic surfaces like a pen on paper in over 20 colors and erase poorly created elements.
Participants also learn to use laser labelling to draw distinct patterns that can shimmer in the light. Once an image is uploaded into the program, the laser complex Minimarker 2 turns a digital image into a printed one. Canvases should be made of metals that react most readily with oxygen, such as titanium and steel. At the end of the masterclass, each participant takes home a handcrafted souvenir.
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The workplace of a process engineer at ITMO’s laser art workshop. Photo by Dmitry Grigoryev / ITMO NEWS
Paintings created at the workshop are displayed at collaborative themed exhibitions, the first of which was Stieglitz Academy’s Images of St. Petersburg in Modern Technologies. The event was organized by the Committee for the State Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments and ITMO Technopark’s FabLab. For the occasion, the academy’s students created designs of the city's prominent landmarks (incl. St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Egyptian Sphinxes, and the Monument to Navigator Ivan Krusenstern), which students from School No. 334 later transferred to metallic plates using a laser installation.
Professional artists also work at the laser art workshop. Among them is Alexander Nikolenko, a member of the Union of Russian Artists, who collaborates with the workshop on the project St. Petersburg’s Rose (a mosaic consisting of titanium details and color images created using laser, holographic, and fluorescent glass) and Ekaterina Kolosovskaya, a student at Stieglitz Academy, who is now working on her graduation project – an image of a tree on a titanium plate created with the laser brush.
Works created at ITMO’s laser art workshop. Photo by Dmitry Grigoryev / ITMO NEWS
Recent paintings will be demonstrated at the exhibition Photonics. World of Lasers and Optics in Moscow on April 1-4. The workshop’s artists, in partnership with Archil Didishvili, a sculptor and lecturer at Stieglitz Academy, will present their project Guardians – a series of 14 portraits on titanium plates inspired by Georgian culture and ancient prophets.
The workshop’s staff plan to host regular masterclasses on laser labelling and attract more artists. Masterclasses are open to everyone. Ksenia Navolotskaya believes they are most valuable for school and university students, as well as artists and designers, who can learn about technological art and discover a new creative tool for their practices.
The workshop can be visited individually or in a group of up to three people. To sign up for a visit, email Ksenia Navolotskaya at navolotskayak@itmo.ru. Follow the workshop on Telegram for more updates.
