Igor Kufayev

Igor Anvar Kufayev , is a Russian British artist, yogi and spiritual teacher. Also known as Vamadeva , which means preserving aspect of Shiva in his peaceful, graceful and poetic form.

Igor Kufayev was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In his childhood he had many spiritual experiences associated with awakening of Kundalini. Classically trained in art from an early age he attended a private studio of a martial artist and painter Shamil Rakhimov, a place of underground meetings between liberal thinkers, poets and painters. The violent death of his mentor lead to young Igors decision to become an artist. Kufayev received his formal education at the Art College in Tashkent, and after two years of compulsory military service, resumed his studies at the Theater and Art Institute, at the department of Mural painting. In 1988 he was accepted as a student of a second year to the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, Russia. Independently of his official program, he studied and painted directly from the masterpieces of western art, in the Hermitage Museum.

Source: Wikipedia