Norilsk
A quick sketch/painting inspired from the mining city of norilsk in Russia
"I'm just a normal human, I feel cold, I feel hungry, and tired" Mikhail replied when the interviewer jokingly remarked that from afar he looked like some kind of Android or robot from a distant planet But this is no foreign world, it's the mining city of norilsk, one the most remote city in Russia. The year was 2160, and pollution from the mining activity has only gotten worse, clouds of sulfur dioxide coming from the nickel mines has dissolved into the air and mixed up with the snow, causing black muddy colors to cover the streets and rooftops. Mikhail spends every other evening out in the open, with his makeshift vacuum bot he nicknamed 'boris', the amount of nickel that falls with the snow is enough to be recollected and sold again for extra money from the company, but also possessing a higher risk of causing cancer and countless other damages to the body. "Living here is hell, everyday I get home, my eyes sting from the sulfur, I can taste it in my mouth and feel it burn in my lungs, the noises from the hover freights landing onto the factories deafening my ears. " The 47 year old man complained "I would've never forced myself to endure this torture every day for every week, if it weren't for my Alexei" he continued as he pointed his shaking, arthritis-ridden finger towards a little framed portrait in his wall, in the photo was 10 year old alexei, currently in elementary school in the city of volgograd. The extra money he collects all year long is barely enough to get him a ticket aboard the hover freights to hitch a ride and exhange ships to an air ferry heading to volgograd so he can spend Christmas with his son and wife.