The Ukrainian-Born Man Who Grows Porcelain Flowers

Vladimir Kanevsky used to be an architect in USSR. But when he was in his late thirties, he moved to New York where his skills were no longer demanded. With no connections and no experience, he had to enter upon a job that could bring him money. So Vladimir started making porcelain flowers. It was easier to sell than sculptures he wanted to create. He made those flowers for money and hated them. Despite that, his works were getting more and more popular. Famous designers and rich collectors started buying them up.

Vladimir’s flowers got to Europe, and some of them ended in some royal collections. When he was almost fifty, he made several customized works for Dior. And gradually Vladimir found a balance between his job, making flowers for money, and his passion, sculpting. Now, he says, he considers his porcelain work as a form of art. Moreover, it’s the one that’s demanded so Vladimir loves his flowers for that. In his exhibitions all over the world he mixes porcelain with sculpture and enjoys both. Vladimir was recently invited to collaborate with Meissen. He says that now is the most productive and interesting stage of his career. And he’s happy. And yes, these are all porcelain flowers, even if you can’t believe it.

Ukrainian-born artist Vladimir Kanevsky, a former architect in USSR, sculpts beautiful flowers from porcelain

Vladimir professes to a life-long love of botanic and that’s what got him into creating porcelain flowers

It’s hard to believe that this gorgeous flower bouque is not what it seems

Each flower is actually made from porcelain

Here’s a look at the artist’s studio

“I like flowers because they have a logical structure to them. It’s like architecture. The inner structure of a flower is like a good building.”- says Kanevsky

He often adds tiny imperfections to his works like bent stems, spots or insect bites to add to the realism

Vladimir crafts the leaves and stems from painted copper, because if made from porcelain they would break too easily

His works cost $3,000 for a hollyhock to $20,000 for a large cluster of lilacs

It can take roughly a month to complete a full sculpture