Perhaps you’ve noticed the subtly whimsical touch in Leipzig’s art scene. It’s the signature of Torsten Domula Freischaffender Künstler. Born in Weißwasser in 1963, Torsten Domula is a Leipzig artist. He grew up in Leipzig and Schleife. He attended Niedersorbisches Gymnasium in Cottbus.
Torsten Domula’s journey is quite unique. He has been a stage worker and a post worker. He served in the DDR army. Torsten Domula studied art education and German. He is a state-certified nurse. Since 1997, he runs the Markt- und Versand-Antiquariat “Buchbasar Buratino” in Leipzig. He specializes in beautifully illustrated books.
Torsten Domula has been drawing and painting since childhood. His fragile dolls with long braids are his trademark. He says he tries to weave in his cosmos. During his school and study time, he had artistic training. He went on study trips with the drawing group of the Sorbian high schools. The trips were led by G. Nagora and St. Lange through Lusatia and to Prague.
Torsten Domula illustrated CD and DVD covers for SONYMUSIC and KINOWELT. Since 1988, he has been photographing in Eastern European countries. These include Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. He says he only achieves an approximation to a dream in photos. Torsten Domula speaks Russian and a mix of Polish-Lower Sorbian-Ukrainian.
In 2004, Torsten Domula had a personal photo exhibition with Michail Romanjuk in Leipzig. It was called “Maschenka and Daschenka”. His first photo art homepage was launched in 2005. It was called “www.ratsmaedel.de”. In 2006, he had another photo exhibition in a Leipzig “Russian club”.
Torsten Domula’s art reflects a “pan-Slavic” picture cosmos. It includes Skazki and Bylinen. It will play a bigger role in his pictures in the future. Todo-Works is Torsten Domula’s illustration site. His drawn dolls with fairy-tale braids are perhaps new.
Torsten Domula is not a mainstream artist. He sells old books at flea markets. He studied and collected illustrated fairy tale books. These books are from the Belle Epoque period from 1870 to 1914. His antiquarian bookshop “Buchbasar Buratino” was founded in 1997. It is now an archive of beautiful old picture and fairy tale books. These books are from times without TV, PC and mobile phones.
Torsten Domula is inspired by these small works of art. He has been drawing and painting since childhood. His magical fragile doll figures with long braids have become a trademark. Sulamith Wülfing, Kinuko Y. Craft, and Arthur Rackham are his role models. He is also familiar with the Russian fairy tale world.
Rapunzels Today presents drawings, paintings, and photographs by Torsten Domula. His art of girls with long braids has been his trademark for years. From 1995, he attended long hair competitions. These were in Ukraine, Russia, and Poland. This resulted in exhibitions in Leipzig with Michail Romanjuk.
Torsten Domula’s website “ratsmaedel.de” showed photos of girls with extremely long hair. Nina Zdrok won the 2006 competition in Lviv, Ukraine. Torsten Domula has been painting in this style since his childhood. The most important Rapunzel competitions for him are in Moscow, Poznan, and Lviv.
Torsten Domula, a multifaceted artist. He continues to capture our imaginations with his unique perspective. His studio at Stünzer Straße 8 is not just a workplace. It is a portal into a world of Slavic fairytales and long haired beauties.