After creating endless amounts of spray paintings, Alex Zaulov struggles to find motivation.

By: Sean Synan

Alex Zaulov successfully submitted his artwork to Aphrodite Gallery in Manhattan three years ago. After being for sale for a while, Zaulov’s painting suddenly vanished from the gallery and he never heard from the gallery’s owner again. This hurt his confidence and motivation toward spray painting.

Zaulov began spray painting eight years ago in the 7th grade. He first discovered spray painting while walking around in Manhattan as a child. His fascination of street artists motivated Zaulov to spray paint as a hobby.

“People perceive my art like graffiti,” said Zaulov. “The main difference is that graffiti artists use tags or signatures as a way to mark their territory, while spray paintings are usually done on poster boards.”

Zaulov has always been interested in the history of spray paint. Spray paintings, often portraying landscapes of galaxies and nature, are believed to have originated in Mexico City in the 1980s.

Like many others, Covid-19 has had a big impact on Zaulov’s everyday life. While being trapped inside his home during quarantine, he spent a lot of his time painting to help relieve some stress.

Zaulov uses his vivid imagination to create new paintings. However, after painting so much every day, he ran into artist block.

“As soon as Covid hit, I was relieved of all of my responsibilities,” said Zaulov. “I spent so much time painting. Eventually, I burnt myself out and I’ve been struggling to come up with new ideas.”

Zaulov isn’t going to allow the pandemic to hinder his future plans. He plans on getting back into spray painting soon.

“I’m not just going to wait for Covid to go away,” said Zaulov. “I hope to get back into it pretty soon when school is over. It depends on how motivated I am.”