~ By Roxanne Strasbourg of the Chemainus Writers
All About Scale
The setting: Duncan BC, Fall 2008. An off
white Vancouver Island craft cottage inhabited
by Russian-born Canadian scenic designer,
Misha Koslovsky and his partner in life Maury
Drummond, costume designer.
Enter the living room. Daylight streams through
bamboo curtains revealing red, green, brown and
black hues. The walls are filled with works of art.
Misha gestures towards one of two appointed
chairs. The set is life scale and designed for
dialogue.
Misha leans forward from his red leather chair,
his face spot lit from the table lamp. "It’s impossible
to earn a living as an artist in Canada." Like many artists, Misha sees Canadian government support for the arts
quickly vanishing under Harper's rule. "Artists need to rally and advocate strongly for more arts funding."
Misha's initial studies in political science and history underscore his passion for both. Add a Bachelor of Fine
Arts in Stage Production (U. of Regina) and an M.F.A. in Scenography (U. of Victoria), blend in a childhood love
of constructing miniature model airplanes and cars and you begin to understand the fuel that drives this artist.
"I ended up in theatre because a lot of my interests were converging upon it. I used to build scale models,
miniatures, and did a lot of museum work."
Misha flips through a substantial portfolio displaying drawings and photographs of his lighting and set
designs for a variety of productions among which are Beauty and the Beast (Victoria Operatic Society) and
Otherwise Bob (Globe Theatre, Regina).
"Scale is what it's all about for me." He carries in his the maquette for the recent South Pacific stage design at Chemainus
Theatre Festival. "As a model maker I would think of something large and make it miniature. What I love about theatre is I'm
able to think of things miniature and make them like this and then get to see them large scale."
Misha also enjoys teaching and is working on the first textbook on the history of theatre from a scenographer's point of view.
The interview with this multifaceted artist is over too soon. On the way home I think of Misha's concern for the future of
artists in Canada. I think of his parents in Russia who, during World War II, still managed to go to the theatre and wonder why,
since art and artists are evidently a necessity, most have so little financial rewards?
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