In 2016, my bronze sculptural composition The Sunlit Family was installed in Yekaterinburg. The work is devoted to a simple yet essential human feeling: the joy of being together.

At the centre of the composition is a family. The adults lift a child into the air while other children move around them. The figures share a common upward impulse: their gestures, turning bodies and raised arms create a sense of movement, play and inner light. I wanted to capture a living moment filled with trust and spontaneous joy rather than a posed scene.

The title refers not only to the emotional tone of the work. The openwork circle behind the raised child resembles the sun. It gathers the figures around a single centre and emphasises the upward movement. Here, the sun becomes an image of warmth, life and the energy people receive from those closest to them.

When creating sculpture for an urban setting, it is especially important to consider the surrounding space. The work does not exist in isolation: people walk past it, children play nearby, while the light and weather constantly change. The composition was therefore designed to be viewed from every side. Each angle reveals new relationships between the figures, gestures and lines.

Bronze made it possible to preserve the lively surface of the original modelling while giving the work the durability required for an outdoor public setting. My aim was to convey lightness through metal and create the impression that the figures are almost weightless, as if the child were truly soaring above the adults’ hands.

For me, The Sunlit Family is an image of unity, support and the happiness found in everyday moments. Urban sculpture becomes part of daily life: people encounter it on their way, stop beside it and take photographs. Through this continuous dialogue with the viewer, the work continues to live.