EggsBoxesToysJewelryPaintings
Igor Kulagin was born on July 6, 1946, in the former Soviet Union in the city of Kiev-capital of the Ukraine. He studied art at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. Upon reaching 18 years of age, he began service in the Soviet army, where he worked in the Political Propaganda Department designing political posters. After finishing his military service, Igor moved to the Russian capital of Moscow, where he lived and worked as an artist, carpenter and interior decorator for over 20 years.In March 1992 Igor came to the USA with his wife, Kim Herrick Kulagin, a US citizen, who worked as a tour guide and translator for the New York company "Russian Travel Bureau" from 1982-1990. In May 1990 Kim moved to Moscow, where she began work as a translator for a small US-Soviet joint venture. Igor and Kim were married in Moscow on September 11, 1990. Two years later the couple decided to leave Russia due to the economic and political chaos that engulfed them. In March 1992, they moved to Scranton, PA where Kim's mother was born and presently resides.The Kulagins now own their own home in which they have a small art gallery, where Igor lives, works, and manages his Russian art business. In cooperation with family members in both Russia and America, Igor is presently engaged in the design and production of his unique Russian matryoshka dolls (nesting dolls containing one figure inside the other), depicting Russian peasant women with colorful headwear and clothing and a large variety of 5-piece American sports teams, including the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the New York Yankees. In addition, the Kulagins paint and craft icons and decorations on wooden eggs; fairytale lacquer boxes; jewelry made of paper mache, enamel and brass; wooden figurines; and landscapes of Russia, the Ukraine, and the USA.
