Syugir, born in 1994 in Elista, Kalmykia, lives and works in Moscow. Syugir Buluktaev was born in the city of Elista in Kalmykia in 1994. Works in painting, drawing and sculpture. Studied at the Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic, Faculty of Design (2011-2016). In 2017, the artist held a solo exhibition at the N.N. Palmov National Museum of the Republic of Kalmykia in Elista. The works reside in private collections in Russia.

Horses and tulips are the main characters in the work of Syugir Buluktaev, they are associated with Kalmykia, the motherland of the artist. The horse occupies a central place in the traditional culture of the Kalmyks, a result of their nomadic way of life on the vast steppes. The epos of the Mongolian- and Turkic-speaking peoples has a special genre, “magtal to the horse” (“praise to the horse”) – an ode to its beauty and virtues. Horses, meanwhile, have incredible power and miraculous properties, such as the ability to fly and speak. A prime example here is the 15th century Kalmyk heroic epos “Dzhangar”, described as “the epic of the glorious horsemen.

Syugir Buluktaev’s work is like a new “magtal to the horse”, but this timeless story now continues in visual form. His horses, as in the ancient epic, are far removed from reality – they are fairy tales, and for the artist horses embody pure energy, carrying light. Their manes and tails are like lush clouds, their iridescent eyes shine like kaleidoscopes – as if they were made to see other worlds through which they ride. In painting, textures of clouds and flowers, abstract patterns remind of arts and crafts, national fabrics, and the vivid colours of paintings are the riot of colours of the blooming steppe.