Russian record holder Alexey Veretnov has created a new work that claims to be the largest in the world. He presented a three-meter icon of the Mother of God “The Unbreakable Wall” made of polymer film at the festival of creativity for people with disabilities in Chelyabinsk. The unique composition captivated the jury and was included in the list of laureates. The Chelyabinsk resident spent more than ten years creating it, and has now submitted an application to the book of records. Details are in the material “Evenings”.
The day before, Alexey Veretnov’s work was exhibited in the foyer of the Palace of Children’s Creativity, where the gala concert of the festival took place. And she literally attracted the attention of the audience. The icon is truly unusual. It is made of plastic. To create a realistic image, special shades were required. The Chelyabinsk resident found them in his surroundings. For example, for the red scarf of the Virgin Mary I used red film from kilogram bags of sugar, for the frame I used packaging for computer parts and chips. I bought the rest in rolls of 10 meters. In total, the icon required 45 thousand parts! And for the stand, more than 30 meters of metal of different diameters, boxes, bolts and nuts were used.
— The preparation was difficult. There is no scheme. “In my hands I only have an icon 60 by 140 millimeters,” the master recalls. — The material had to be collected bit by bit. What was sold in stores did not match the color scheme. I searched for many colors for years, but the work did not stop, but continued day after day, month after month, year after year. Friends and simply caring people helped me. But many did not believe that this could really be done.
The work, perseverance and patience of the master were crowned with success. Alexey Veretnov wove a huge image of the Virgin Mary. According to him, the height of the icon with its stand exceeds three meters. Now the master plans to consecrate it in a monastery in the Kurgan region.
Alexey Veretnov is a famous person in the city. He has been creating for a long time, weaving magnificent panels from plastic films. Each work takes from one and a half to three years. He is the winner of the international Philanthropist Award. His wicker painting “Dalmatovo Monastery” was included in the Russian book of records. But this is the first time I created an icon.
“Create, surprise, give beauty to people” – this is the master’s life motto. He had long dreamed of learning the art of weaving. But I couldn’t find suitable textbooks and manuals. And in the early 2000s I went to a boarding house in the village of Varna. There I met grandmothers who showed me how to weave rugs from candy wrappers. This is where his creative journey began.
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