Alexander Grabovetskiy
Alexander Grabovetskiy | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupation | Master Woodcarver |
Spouse | married |
Alexander Grabovetskiy (born July 4, 1973) is a Russian-American Master wood carver.
Grabovetskiy was recognized as the 2012 International Wood Carver of the year, and his piece Wall Decoration was awarded first place. His work utilizes the same approaches used for centuries by master woodcarvers, including techniques employed by Grinling Gibbons.[1][2]
In 2015 Alexander Grabovetskiy was Editors’ Choice to be Awarded with Woodworking Excellence in category: Turnings, Carvings & Objets d’Art by Popular Woodworking Magazine.
Biography
Grabovetskiy was born on July 4, 1973, in the Russian town of Dimitrovgrad. His grandfather taught him basic woodcarving techniques at six-years old, and at 16 he was taken on as an apprentice by renowned carver Vladimir Tokarev.[1][2]
Due to his faith and his refusal to enlist in the Soviet Armed Forces, Grabovetskiy was imprisoned by the Soviet authorities. He was freed after two years as part of an Amnesty International campaign for prisoners of faith incarcerated by the USSR. In prison he began a business making furniture and kitchen sets, and finding no work upon his release at the age of 21 years, he continued on to run his own woodworking enterprise.[1][3][4]
In 1996, Grabovetskiy immigrated as a political refugee to the United States together with his wife Nadia and their 10-month-old son. The woodworking and custom home building business that he established in Goshen, Indiana, Aalmark LLC, employed a number of expert craftsmen who were also Christian refugees from the former Soviet Union. He currently works in South Florida.[2][3][4]
References
- ^ a b c "International woodcarver of the year 2012". Woodworkers Institute. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
- ^ a b c "Wood Carvings by Alexander Grabovetskiy". atwoodwork.com. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
- ^ a b Lee Harrold (1998). "Immigrant establishes woodworking firm". The Goshen News.
- ^ a b "Here's My Woodcarving!". Vol. 95. Wood News Online. July 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
External links
- 1973 births
- 20th-century Russian sculptors
- 20th-century male artists
- 21st-century Russian sculptors
- 21st-century male artists
- Living people
- American cabinetmakers
- American Christian clergy
- American evangelicals
- American woodcarvers
- Furniture makers
- People from Boca Raton, Florida
- Artists from Charlotte, North Carolina
- People from Goshen, Indiana
- People from Dimitrovgrad, Russia
- People from Union County, North Carolina
- Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by the Soviet Union
- Refugees in the United States
- Russian emigrants to the United States
- Russian Christians
- Russian engravers
- Russian evangelicals
- Russian refugees
- Russian male sculptors
- 20th-century American printmakers
- Soviet prisoners and detainees