Vadim Sluf and Anton Sakvo

The collaboration of Vadim Sluf and Anton Sakvo resulted in a picture of a young nature-lover catching a death’s-head hawkmoth with a ring net. The insect has a striking pattern on its thorax resembling a human skull. That is why the image of the death’s head moth has a frightening cultural message as an ominous and doomy symbol. Edgar Allan Poe, a classic of the horror genre, used it in his stories, and in the cult movie The Silence of the Lambs, the serial killer put a pupa into the mouths of his victims.

However, the two artists do not agree with this interpretation. The painters created a fun, bright and cheerful picture to show that the moth is not dangerous and does not carry any threat. The nature is full of curious creatures, whose terrifying appearance became a basis for legends and tales. However, there is nothing really terrible in them.

You have already seen the work of Anton Sakvo from Moscow on the route – he authors the fun carpet in Universitetsky Lane. Vadim Sluf is an illustrator, graffiti artist and graphic designer from Rostov. His style features thin angular lines as a counterbalance to Anton’s soft and smooth style. Together they produced the breathtaking work which is harmonious in setting one style against the other.