Mikhalev, who trained as a welder, lives and works in a house whose fence and door are decorated with forged flowers and grapes.
He began the project when a friend brought him broken machine guns. A month later, he exhibited his war art in a Donetsk museum. Since then, he’s constantly been making what he calls “flowers of war.” In addition, he constructs stands for writing pens from parts of a grenade launcher and a cartridge case.
Photo:
AP
Mikhalev constantly has been making what he calls “flowers of war.”
Photo:
AP
The smell of iron and paint permeates the workshop, also decorated from floor to ceiling with dozens of religious icons.
Photo:
AP
In his workshop are piles of half-burnt machine guns and shells from the war’s front line. Friends and acquaintances bring them as raw material for his art.
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AP
Mikhalev makes the art as a keepsake, a souvenir of the war in eastern Ukraine.
Photo:
AP
“Real flowers will not last long, and my roses will become a reminder for a long memory,” the blacksmith says.
Photo:
AP
He began the project when a friend brought him broken machine guns.
