Chinese sculptor Li Fujun met Russian painter Singaevskaya Liudmila at the prestigious Repin Academy of Fine Arts in Russia in 2000 and the two fell in love with each other.
"I only knew that he is a handsome foreign artist and even had no idea of where he was from. I had no any plan for the future at that time," Liudmila said.
Settling down in Beijing in 2008, Liudmila has been working to promote the cultural exchanges between China and Russia. She has organized exhibitions of works by artists from the two countries and also designed and bound albums of paintings of such works. Now, Liudmila is working for the Russian Culture Center as a painting teacher, Liudmila said she has been greatly affected by Chinese culture and arts.
"Chinese traditional painting has a great impact on me. I love the artistic conception and techniques it demonstrates. Actually, not just me, I know that many Russian artists are impressed by such painting and affected more or less," she said, adding that she hopes such traditions can be well preserved.Devoting himself to sculpture creation in China, Li is also teaching at his alma mater in St. Petersburg. He admitted that Russian culture has also had a profound impact on his artistic style.
"All art forms, including literature, drama, dancing, prioritize the human spiritual pursuits and endow the authors with strong personal ideas and features, this is how Russian art education and culture shock reshape me," Li said.
