Philosophical reminiscences in the work of the artist Mikhail Kapustin

Mikhail Yuryevich Kapustin is a ceramic artist, a unique phenomenon in the domestic decorative and applied art. In his work, original own ideas about the World, Time, and Man were artistically reflected through plastic images of ceramic sculptures.

Art, as a chronicle of historical times, has always recorded the cultural experience of mankind in concrete natural materials. Some of them, having a short period of decay, disappeared without a trace, others have survived to the present day and serve as monuments of human existence and reason. The idea of the trace of the hand and the thought of the human creator from his youth deeply worried Mikhail Kapustin. Familiarity with artifacts in museums, discovery of their artistic meanings, research curiosity about how they were created, formed his interest in the material – ceramics.

 Mikhail's interest was especially supported by the exhibitions of ceramic works by artists of the One Composition group that took place every spring in the Blue Living Room of the Leningrad Union of Artists, which convinced him of the great possibilities of artistic creativity in this material. "One Composition" – 10 exhibitions of a group of Leningrad ceramic artists from 1977 to 1986, the main condition of which was the idea of showing not functional decorative and applied ceramics, but artistic, pictorial and sculptural plastics as a new kind of fine art ^[1].

So the young man, being attracted to this kind of practical art, consciously chose to enter the university the Department of Artistic Ceramics and Glass of the LVHPU named after V. I. Mukhina, from which he graduated in 1989. He immediately began to participate in professional exhibitions of various levels, demonstrating his original ceramic works. His name became noticeable in the artistic environment of St. Petersburg by the undoubted originality of his works.

Mikhail Kapustin, by his nature, culture, and upbringing, is prone to thinking on a planetary, universal scale. His worldview was formed in a whirlwind of philosophical currents of the twentieth century, scientific and technological discoveries, new trends in culture. He tried to figure it out, understand it and build his life path in art accordingly.

At that time, in philosophical science (from the middle of the XX century to the beginning of the XXI century) there was a rapid change of directions and the emergence of new, parallel currents in the understanding and explanation of life: phenomenology, philosophical anthropology, psychoanalytic philosophy, hermeneutics, neopositivism, postpositivism, and others ^[2].  All this influenced the actual art. The creativity of Western European artists flourished in the world of fine art in accordance with these philosophical trends.

Here it is necessary to briefly highlight the spectrum of the main trends in philosophy and trends in art in order to present the saturation of the atmosphere in world culture and art during the creative maturation of the artist.

 The philosophy of postpositivism resonated in the works of post-impressionists who abandoned the traditions of classical figurative images: A. Mathis, M. Vlamink, A. Derain, R. Dufy, A. Marquet and others. Their works partially ended up in the Hermitage collection and were loved by Russian youth, who were at that time within the framework of the art of academic, socialist realism, and here they had the opportunity to feel the color richness of painting.

The philosophy of subjectivism drew the attention of artists to the depth of the emotional nature of a person, his psychological states. Subjectivism is a trend in philosophy based on the denial of objective laws of development and the assertion of the dominant role of an individual subject in the process of cognition and in social activity. In art, this affected the transition to the phase of expressionism (Latin – "external expression"), when artists' desire to replace the direct visual impression of reality (nature) with an expression in the image of the subjective spiritual world of a person and his complex emotions came to replace pictorial impressionism: E. Munch, F. Mark, P. Klee, O. Kokoshka and others. Here young artists had the opportunity to make sincere revelations in painting about their personal human feelings and experiences.

In parallel with this philosophy, an alternative scientific methodology – structuralism - is being approved (from Latin structura – structure, order. The formation of this trend is associated with the names of philosophers Claude Levi-Strauss, Michel Foucault, etc.), which already operated with the concepts of impersonal logic, universal truth, the integrity of the structure and the formal unity of all its elements.  This corresponded to the method of image developed in painting – cubism, which made it possible to convey in a new way on a two-dimensional picture plane the three-dimensionality of the depicted three-dimensional objects based on their internal structure. In this way, the Cubists, as it were, freed painting from the likeness of life: P. Picasso, J. Braque and others. Cubism strongly attracted modern young artists by the method of structural development of the depicted objects, both in painting and sculpture.

To replace figurative painting depicting real objects by various illusory methods, there was a movement towards non–objective painting - to abstraction (Latin abstractio "distraction"). Intuitive abstraction used pictorial pictorial means – dynamic color, spot, lines to express a person's feelings and emotions, the inner world of his experiences on an unconscious, but visually perceived level: V. Kandinsky, P. Klee, J. Miro. Geometric abstractionism was a logical, non-objective, geometric construction of visual color compositions: P. Mondrian, V. Vasareli and others.

In the 1960s and 1970s, an alternative trend emerged in philosophy again – poststructuralism – increased scientific interest in the ethics of individualism, hedonism (permissiveness of desires and pleasures, emancipation of traditional morality and the search for pleasure in any act of life). Poststructuralism emerged in France in the 1960s as a movement criticizing structuralism, stating the priority of unconscious structures over the subject and consciousness. The ideas of poststructuralism (or destructuralism) were developed by philosophers: R. Barth, J. Derrida, J. Deleuze and J. Baudrillard. The influence of these ideas turned out to be very strong in the subjects of world fine, theatrical and cinema art. This philosophy is reflected and strengthened in the art of surrealism (from the French surrealisme, lit. – "overrealism", "overrealism") in the works of already well-known abstract artists: M. Ernst, S. Dali, R. Magritte. The Surrealists set out to combine natural reality and virtual reality (according to Z. Freud). Their main sources are dreams, the subconscious, trance states, hallucinations; the main techniques are the destruction of logical connections, absurdity, paradox, comparison of something really incompatible. The Surrealists' creativity was carried out in a state of "disconnected mind". Young artists were tempted to create their paintings outside of their logical meaning and content.

At the end of the twentieth century, the ideas of poststructuralism merged with the course of late modernism and a fashionable trend in philosophy was formed – postmodernism ^{[3, pp. 297-298]}. The main representatives of the philosophy of postmodernism: J. Derrida, W. Eco, J. Deleuze, J. Baudrillard and others. And as answers to the challenges of new world problems, the philosophical principles of cosmism, planetary environmentalism, feminism, sexism, posthumanism, and the triumph of individuality were actualized and formed.  Postmodernism has become a popular concept of moral freedom and creativity. The creativity of the postmodernists was a paradoxical mixture of styles, trends, traditions; the methods of their creativity – a game, collage. Postmodern artists: K. Vonnegut, R. Rauschenberg and others. In their work, there was a gradual devaluation of general cultural values and norms accepted in traditional fine art, but absolute freedom of expression was revealed and welcomed by many.

At the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, a decisive alternative to postmodernism emerged in the visual arts, which was expressed in the desire for hyperrealism (hyperrealism; from a combination of Greek. hyper – "over" and lat. realis – "real") – to an extremely naturalistic image, with the author's impersonal view of reality, without his own emotional interpretation. Hyperrealist painting is an illusion on the verge of reality, a visual deception with a dispassionate, objective reflection of reality.  Oil drawings, pencils, watercolors, pastels – these naturalistic images turned out to be just a demonstration of personal virtuoso fine art. The most famous hyperrealists are the American artist D. Paterson, the Mexican D. Fazio, the South Korean artist Young-sung Kim, the Belgian artist A. Reno.

The development of all these processes was not one-line, and at the same time, different philosophical concepts and trends in European artistic culture were maturing in parallel, a wide range of creative proposals in art was revealed, covering the entire Western European world and influencing the work of young artists beginning their creative path.

At the same time, from the late 1920s to the 1990s. In Soviet art and in some European countries of the socialist camp, the only artistic method officially recognized by the authorities was approved - academic socialist realism - in form and content, the art of laudatory glorification of communist ideals. The leadership of the Communist Party imposed strict requirements on the creativity of artists in accordance with the materialistic teachings of Marxism-Leninism. The illusory-realistic methods in painting and sculpture were unchanged in Soviet art, and the traditions of folk art and impersonal commodity production were repeated in DPI. Socialist realism was powerfully introduced into art education. 

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Bloc of socialist countries destroyed the established ideological positions in Russian art. Now all the trends, trends, events that took place in different countries began to influence the worldview and attitude of Russian artists. In this complex historical context of world art, the echoes of which reached Russia in connection with the development and availability of mass media (Internet networks and printing), there were reflections of the young artist Mikhail Kapustin, as well as his contemporaries, and their search for their way in creativity.

The artist Mikhail Kapustin, inspired by the ideas of philosophers and reactions to them in the works of world artists, interprets their theories in his own way and creates compositions in ceramics, the images of which arise in the subconscious only as reminiscences (memories) and allusions (hints), and does not reproduce existing philosophical theories and does not repeat the corresponding creative statements of other masters.   His artistic instinct leads him along his own path in art, and he is professionally realized in creativity.

In 1996, young teachers and graduates of the Department of Artistic Ceramics and Glass, under the leadership of O. L. Nekrasova-Karateeva, who was then in charge of the department, by friendship and agreement of common beliefs and aspirations in art, united in the creative group of ceramists "Crater" (Crater. Encyclopedia of St. Petersburg. URL: http://encspb.ru/object/2804728890?dv=1000000000&lc=ru (accessed 15.08.2023)) and, supporting each other, organized a number of exhibitions and symposiums where they developed and tested their creative ideas. It was a fruitful period in the life of Mikhail Kapustin and his friends, which allowed a new galaxy of St. Petersburg ceramic artists to successfully live through the years of creative formation.

In 1999, at the exhibition at the Museum of the A. L. Stieglitz SPGHPA, two generations of ceramists of the groups "One Composition" and "Crater" met. It presented new works by leading masters and young authors. The exhibition was called "The Meeting" and was an indicator of the growing professionalism and artistic potential of the masters of ceramic art.     

M. Kapustin's artistic statement – ceramic sculpture – is a compressed formula of an idea in a tense volume of form. His works are large, peculiar ceramic (sculptural and graphic) compositions of epic imagery, attract the attention of the audience with their unusual form and content. Meeting with his works for them is not a simple recognition of familiar forms and touching them, but a difficult reading of their deep meanings. They capture the viewer with a weighty significance, some mystery hidden in a brutal form.

Mikhail Kapustin's sculpture is not a real-like "cast" of reality, but a plastic image created by the author, speculatively created and sensually implemented by him in ceramics, capable of forming in the viewer a special artistic idea of the depicted object, phenomenon, author's idea.

The main themes that concern the artist are related to the development of human civilization: archaic culture, ancient and medieval mythology, the role and images of great personalities in history. At the same time, his sculptures and murals do not illustrate themes and plots, their solutions are not developed narratively in space, but are revealed in a generalized form and require the viewer to thoughtfully penetrate deep into the image.

The author's artistic and plastic searches of M. Kapustin initially clearly took place in the parameters of the ideas of philosophical anthropology - scientific human studies: the desire to understand the essence of man, his nature, the meaning of life, purpose and results of life, the relationship of his soul and body, the essence of death and immortality.

The central theme of Mikhail Kapustin's reflections and creativity is the image of a MAN. His sculptures-people – are more than the likeness of real people, they are symbols of human greatness. Kapustin's man is a block of stone: heavy legs, heavy hands, a clearly expressed movement, a gesture as a sign of meaning. The power enclosed in the body of the sculpture conveys the image of steadfastness. The sculptures strictly and decisively outline the character of the heroes – proud people, strong, confident. A mighty force! Such an image appears more than once in various plastic compositions by M. Kapustin, as an echo of the philosophy of postpositivism. Such are the sculptures:

• "A big man with a small dog" (2015) – a large ceramic male figure (sculpture) on large firmly standing legs holds a small dog in reliable massive hands, gently and carefully holding it to him. It is a symbol of strong, reliable protection, a strongly expressed feeling of human love.

• Sculpture "The Leader of the willing ..." (2015) – a similar composite figure of an athletically coordinated person on large, stable legs, with large hands of strong hands indicates the direction of movement for those who want to move (in this case – to the left). This is a convincing symbol of a leader, a leader who guides others, causing them to trust in his knowledge and confidence.

          • The sculpture "George" (2016) is also a figure of a man of mighty strength (powerful legs and arms), his figure is monolithic, the pose with a spear is stable, resolute, frozen in an offensive movement, the neck is tense, the gaze is focused on the end of the spear aimed at a small snake. This sculpture is an expression of the reverse association with the mythical feat of St. George the Victorious, who killed an ugly, evil Snake to save people. In the same composition, a moment of tension of emotional activity is clearly expressed, but there is no feeling of true victorious triumph, rather, on the contrary, a feeling of fear and pity. In an interview, the artist explained his author's idea: "To show not a victorious force in the name of good, but, on the contrary, the senseless cruelty of people towards small and defenseless snakes, who are often unnecessarily killed because of contempt for snakes. I wanted to express a rude, menacing, powerful, brutal force in attacking the weak, small, defenseless, so that the viewer looking at this scene would feel the senselessness of this cruelty" (Interview with Kapustin M. Yu. Entry of the author of the article. 11.09.2023. [manuscript]).

         Intellectually, Mikhail Kapustin is connected with world art. It is obvious that this artist's sculptural work is guided by the idea of physicality in the visual and visual expression of the sensual power of the body, inherent in the ancient masters of sculpture. "The leading way in ancient Greek art (sculpture, vase painting, architecture) remained the ancient expression of the sensual power of the body, in which the readiness of the body to realize movement is of great importance" ^{[4, p. 56]}.

His ideal is the sculptures of the "High Quattrocento", the initial period of the rapid development of the Renaissance, the time of the formation of the fundamental canons of fine art and the deep spiritual and aesthetic content of the works. His idols Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Andrea Verrocchio and, of course, Michelangelo Buonarroti are titans, geniuses. Leonardo in his treatise "The dispute of the painter with the poet, musician and sculptor" pointed out that "The sculptor, when working on his work with the power of his hands and blows, must destroy excess marble or other stone sticking out of the figure ..." ^{[5, p. 93]}, and Mikhail Kapustin unfolds in a different way: his sculpted ceramic sculptures are conceived by a master and created on the principle of increasing the necessary volumes, observing the accuracy and density of their conjugation, and nothing superfluous. Mikhail's sculptures are distinguished by their verified external and internal scale, clear silhouette, expressive proportions, resolute plasticity and unusual condition of the ceramic surface.

When creating sculptures, M. Kapustin uses his plastic (transformative) artistic language – it is the language of proportional volumes, verified silhouettes of forms and their movements, with the help of which he achieves certain states, expressiveness of feelings, ideas and energy of his work, causing emotional perception in the viewer.

Working with clay mass, plasticizing it into the desired state of the workpiece (layer, lump), then subjecting it to volumetric shaping with strong but sensitive hands. Being impregnated with salts, covered with angobs, glazes and hardened in fire, these artistic objects enter the world of human civilization, the objective and spiritual world of art, and, expressing certain meanings, become "talking entities". 

Kapustin's plastic is a way of artistic expression of a generalized concept, concentration of the semantic space of a myth or historical event in the compressed form of a ceramic work. The reaction to the philosophy of subjectivism that was relevant at that time can be seen in the author's appeal to the topic "Man and Time", to the materialization of these complex concepts in a series of plastic compositions with clocks:

• The sculptural composition "The Clock" (1990) – a petrified giant man resting on the boulders of time - is a kind of symbol of eternity.

• Sculpture-clock "Fulcrum" (2014) – a big and strong man standing firmly on large legs, trying to move the Earth with a lever. The resolute figure of a man is covered with metal glaze, and a huge ceramic "Globe" is painted with colored underglaze paints. On the equator, in the center of the African continent, the hour hands are strengthened. (Presumably, it is believed that the first representatives of the genus "humans" Homo habilis originated in Africa approximately 2.5 million years ago, and from there their settlement began on the territory of Eurasia).

• Composition "Time Bearer" (2015) – a man carries a heavy stone block in his hands, to which the hands of the clock are attached. The whole figure of a person expresses physical tension. The textured surface of the block is covered with semi-matte glazes with a partial golden sheen. This is a kind of representation of the abstract concepts of "a lot of time" or "hard time".

• Sculpture-clock "Carrier" (2015) – a male figure carrying a globe in front of him on outstretched arms, geographically painted with seas, oceans and continents. At the equator, the hour, minute and second hands are attached tangentially to the ball, counting the time of life on our planet. This composition is an allegory of a single complex of concepts MAN + EARTH+time.

The ceramic blocks of his sculptures contain compressed energy, causing elastic internal tension in the volumes of the forms. The visual effect of his ceramic sculptures is a bodily experience of gravity, weight, stability, balance of three–dimensional forms and masses. A gesture as a sign of a certain meaning. His creative method is freedom of expression and strict restraint in utterance. With all the rigor and brutality of his characters, these are animated characters, guardians of strength, goodness, morality.

In M. Kapustin's work, the problems of metaphysics that concern him are read, namely: the fundamental nature of reality, space and time, the relationship between mind and matter, between potentiality and reality. His reflections on the power of humanity and the eternal problems of existence found agreement with the teachings of the philosopher and naturalist V. I. Vernadsky (1865-1945), who proposed a scientific theory that different near-Earth spheres were formed as part of the matter and atmosphere of the planet Earth during the multi-million evolution: the biosphere and the noosphere ^[6]. The biosphere (according to Vernadsky) is the geological shell of the earth and the living organisms inhabiting it, which determine the material basis of life on Earth. The noosphere ("sphere of the mind", also referred to by the term "anthroposphere") is "presumably a new, higher stage of the evolution of the biosphere, the formation of which is associated with the development of human society, which has a decisive impact on natural processes" ^[7]. Vernadsky wrote: "His (man – N.-K. O. L.) power is connected not with his matter, but with his brain, with his mind and his work directed by this mind" ^{[6, p. 182]}. "The noosphere is the last of many states of biosphere evolution in geological history – the state of our days" ^{[6, p. 187]}. In the World Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the noosphere is defined as "a hypothetical sphere of interaction between human society and nature", where a person and his communities face a huge responsibility for the preservation of our planet ^[7].

Mikhail Kapustin's sculptures are signs of the noosphere. He analyzes the history of the relationship of Homo sapiens with the environment from the depths of centuries. The story is realized in the images of his ceramic sculptures.

The design of the visual image takes place in the process of conceptualization of the idea. The plastic of the master is a way of artistic expression of a generalized concept. Mikhail Yuryevich's creative credo is expressive minimalism, allegory, metaphor, code, putting complex meanings into the image. Matter and idea as philosophical categories are opposite, but in his work they are united as means of mutual expressiveness.

A special phenomenon was the sculpture "Nirvana" (2014) – a monumental composition made up of ceramic blocks. This is a monument–head, a kind of cosmic image, folded in the universal order of large-scale relations. A clay body the color of burnt earth. The sculptural forms of the face – forehead, cheeks, nose, mouth – are independent, closely composed modules of a common sculptural design. With the dense addition of these blocks, only one small luminous slit is found, allowing light to pass under the forehead, in place of the bridge of the nose – this is a symbol of the light of the human mind. The eyes are covered with eyelids, their gaze is turned inward. Eternal silence and self-concentration.

"Nirvana" is a term in Buddhist philosophy that means that a person reaches a state of "supreme bliss", where there are no passions and sufferings. This is an experience inaccessible to consciousness, but the author materialized his idea of it in a three-dimensional ceramic sculpture. In this work, one can see the meanings of the philosophy of subjectivism, structuralism, cosmism, expressed by the cubist method in three-dimensional plastic.  The composition "Nirvana" was performed for its display in the natural space of the exhibition "Glass and Ceramics in the Landscape" (2014) on the meadow of Elagin Island against the background of green grass and boundless blue sky.

The influence of reminiscences and allusions of surrealism in the creation of images can also be attributed to the complex, but figuratively impressive sculptural composition "The Triumph of the Emperor in August".

• Ceramic sculpture "The Triumph of the Emperor in August", (2016) – the plastic formula of the epic image. This is a generalized image that combined the portrait features of two great conquering emperors: the Roman Emperor Octavian (63 BC - 14 AD), who was awarded the honorary title Augustus by the Senate for his merits and numerous military victories, which in Latin meant "Sacred", and Napoleon Bonaparte, born in August 1769 G. (died in 1821). The sculpture of a complex design is a large head of the emperor with a laurel wreath of the winner, established on a sling of bones and on two heavy worn wheels, as a metaphor for a difficult life path. The image materialized in ceramics is not so portrait-like as it is symbolic. The artist explained this composition in his interview: "In my studio there is a cast of an antique portrait of Octavian Augustus and a reproduction of a picturesque portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte hangs. I look at them and constantly think: "They are separated by eighteen centuries, the world has changed many times; people's lives, aspirations and opportunities are different now, but these two mighty triumphators (phenomenal and ambiguous personalities) are remembered by humanity for their strength, love of power, greatness and cruelty." I wanted to show their combined image in the sculpture and express the main features" (Interview with Kapustin M. Yu. Entry of the author of the article. 11.09.2023. [manuscript]).

Mikhail Kapustin is an artist who knows well and is clearly convinced that sculpture requires great skill, knowledge and understanding of the nature of the material. Initially, just starting his creative practice, he consciously entered into a production and creative union with clay - a malleable material and at the same time capable of forever fixing the smallest trace of influence on it in the fire. As a naturalist, in his work he explores the logic in the organization of the technological process, i.e., how to make the material his co-author in achieving a spectacular, artistically expressive result. The logical chain of his creative process is as follows: idea – artistic image – material – technology – artwork.

He has a creative engineering and design mindset. He is a chemist, a physicist, and an architect of creating a sculptural form. Solves the problem of material quality – the chemical composition of clay masses, physical properties, temperature conditions of firing and working properties of tools. He himself creates tools that are convenient for working with clay, for rolling layers, devices for shaping and applying dyes. Mikhail Yurievich, like an ancient master, reproduces natural technologies to create his works. In countless experiments, the master explores the nature of the possibilities of artistic expression in ceramics: clay plastic, the manifestation of textures during modeling, sintering of the shard in fire, metallization of the surface and crystallization of glazes in restorative firing. M. Kapustin achieves the desired state of the surface, which is obtained differently when fired in an open fire or at high temperature heating in a capsule. He not only loads his sculptures into furnaces, but also builds furnaces for the desired firing, builds the necessary temperature regime. Everything requires serious knowledge and attitude in the name of creating an artistic image.

Important in his work are inventive wit and a high technical level of execution of works in the implementation of an intricate artistic image. Mikhail Kapustin strives to create everything in a new way, experiencing happiness and joy from insight!

Realizing his sculptural compositions, he feels architectonics, but builds them not according to classical canons, but according to the principle of "non-classical architecture", which is created as a specialized system based on physical principles and compositional meanings, when the decor follows the constructive logic of the structure of the object, stemming from the figurative task and the nature of the material. At the same time, his sculptural forms are full of inner drama.

Architectonics is a term used in many fields of art, it is a concept that combines the connection of all components of a work as a holistically perceived form, it is a compositional method of constructing a work of art using new materials, proportions, shaping technologies. The art critic-encyclopedist V. G. Vlasov gives the following definition of this word: "Architectonics (from other Greek. - the main structure) is the construction of an artistic work, "alignment", meaning clearly perceived integrity. ... The quality of architectonicity is one of the many properties of the composition of a work of art, it arises "as a result of the artist's application of accentuation, articulation, subordination of parts: the relationship of the whole and the detail, the main and secondary, top and bottom, center and periphery" ^{[8, p. 485]}.

Mikhail Kapustin is an integral artist who has an undoubted gift of compositional thinking, a constructive approach and a harmonious flair in creativity. The originality of the idea, clarity of thought, perseverance in clarifying all aspects of the process of creating a sculpture from a graphic sketch through drawing in a large format to masterful execution in the material – this is the logic of his creative process. He elaborately builds the idea of composition in sketches (drawings).

M. Y. Kapustin is a virtuoso draughtsman, works freely from nature and creates sketches, visualizing his idea. His drawings are self–sufficient graphic works. Some compositions completed in the graphics are tested by him "for strength" in ceramic paintings, gaining a new convincing material embodiment. Not always his graphic compositions immediately become clear to the viewer, despite the fact that the images are written quite realistically. The semantic content of his work awaits a meeting with an erudite viewer capable of perceiving philosophical, associated, historical material.

• Faience dish "Metro People" d. 35 cm., executed in the technique of monochrome underglaze painting with dark umber paint. A rondo with a portrait image of a man with a courageous face, resolutely looking in front of him, with clenched jaws, with a strong neck is the image of a worker, in this case, a metrostroevets. The image is supplemented with the artist's autograph, the date – "2004" and the name of the metro station "Ploshchad Vosstaniya".

• Faience dish "New Europe". D. 35 cm., underglaze painting of umber color (dark brown paint). The drawing with the author's signature and date – "2011". The theme arose as a modern author's paraphrase of the artist on the events from the ancient myth of the abduction of the young virgin of Europe by Zeus, who appeared to her in the guise of a large white Bull, who was in love, beautiful and complacent. In the author's composition by Mikhail Kapustin, the ancient myth is transformed in today's interpretation, where everything is perceived differently: The Bull is presented in the form of a voluminous manual for cutting carcasses for butchers, the girl has become a sad wife and a concerned mother of a newborn baby, for some reason everything looks sad, and only hope remains for a young boy musician playing ancient Greek the instrument is a double–barrelled aulos flute, as a hint of a life perspective through art. The Aulos is an ancient Greek musical instrument – a double-barreled flute, which was played during feasts and entertainments, it was believed that its sound inflames temperament and sensuality ^[9].

• Faience dish "Resting Roman" D. 35 cm., painted with blue underglaze cobalt paint. Drawing with the artist's autograph and the date – 2016 A powerful figure of a Roman warrior, resting from a victorious battle, sitting on the base of a Greek column, against the ruins of classical architecture, is inscribed in the entire field of the dish's surface. He is depicted with a laurel victory wreath on his head and a Kalashnikov assault rifle in his hands. There are various sad associations with similar plots in the history of mankind.

• "The Mediterranean Wolf". (2019). monochrome sepia painting (red-brown paint) on 4 square layers (in general, the composition is 1 ^m2).  Allegory on the theme of the Great Migration of peoples in the IV-V centuries, associated with the collapse of the great Roman Empire, the seizure of its territories by barbarian tribes and the desire of the Romans to escape by resettlement to distant islands and the Mediterranean coast. The appeal in this composition to the ancient myth of the Roman She-Wolf, who nursed the twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, in this drawing as a psychological association with the state of fear-stricken people seeking salvation on a fragile boat in the Mediterranean Sea, and praying for their salvation by the same "wonderful she-wolf", but already medieval, Mediterranean. The wolf that appeared in the vision looks around with fear at a bunch of heads from the hold – distraught, hungry Romans. In the drawing, a long story is compressed in an instant, and its image is filled with a huge dramatic content.

         All these graphic works by M. Kapustin are examples of virtuoso drawing and great emotional and intellectual impact. When considering them, many different psychological associations arise.

Conclusion:

Mikhail Kapustin is a ceramic artist, the creator of large, peculiar ceramic and graphic compositions of epic imagery, which represent a compressed formula of an idea in a tense volume of form. Using the language of image in his work, he fills his works with deep philosophical meaning, reflections in which reminiscences (reflections) and allusions (hints) from previous eras in art are manifested in relation to modern, relevant, universal, humanitarian problems and attempts at their scientific philosophical understanding. This brings additional meanings to his works and makes his artistic creativity a unique phenomenon in modern visual and plastic art.

Kapustin has the gift of compositional thinking and harmonious flair, a constructive approach to creativity and convincing logic have shaped his own methods in teaching. Since 1994, Mikhail Yuryevich Kapustin has been teaching at the Department of Artistic Ceramics and Glass of the A. L. Stiglitz SPGHPA, Associate Professor. Conducts educational and creative disciplines: Design, Composition in the material, Fundamentals of production skills, Production practice, Ceramic sculpture, Project execution in the material, Diploma design. Artistic gift and creative experience ensure the success of Mikhail Yuryevich Kapustin's teaching activity ^{[10, p. 12-13]}.

To date, the artist Mikhail Yuryevich Kapustin has participated in more than 40 exhibitions: in St. Petersburg and Moscow, in Helsinki (Finland), in Baltimore (USA), in Vallauris (France); he has participated in international symposiums on ceramics and sculpture: "Shuvalovo" (St. Petersburg), in Somero (Finland), in Wunsdorf (Germany), in Vallauris (France). His works are in the collections of the A. L. Stieglitz SPGHPA Museum and various foreign countries.