Awakening of an Angel

In a workshop on the outskirts of Odesa, one of the most ambitious—and possibly most expensive—sculptures in the history of contemporary art is taking shape.

By William Beischel

Amid the crackle of welding torches and the clatter of metal, American artist of Cossack descent Sergey Melnikoff, better known by his artistic signature MFF, works alongside master welder Viktor Bielchyk. Together, they are creating what some critics already call a future icon: The Silent Uprising of an Angel.

For two years, international auction houses and art historians have been keeping a close eye on this unlikely studio. Their verdict is unanimous: each new work coming out of Odesa is not just another sculpture, but a step into art history.

From War Debris to Sacred Icons

MFF works with raw material few would dare to touch: the remains of war. Shards of rockets, fragments of mines, twisted steel torn from Ukrainian homes—these are the building blocks of his art. In his hands, dead metal is reborn as something else: a prayer in steel, a frozen act of remembrance.

The approach has already produced landmark works. In the Holy Mandylion, fragments of artillery shells and mortar rounds were welded into a golden cloth bearing the face of Christ. In the monumental Cross of Peace, more than 20,000 pieces of shrapnel were fused into a glowing crucifix, mounted on pipes salvaged from bombed-out homes in Odesa and Kharkiv. Today, that piece alone is valued at around $3 million.

The Art of MFF | The Holy Mandylion — born of war’s wreckage, shaped from shells and mortar fragments, and transfigured in pure gold. Artist Sergey Melnikoff captures his creation in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, July 9, 2025.

The Art of MFF | The Holy Mandylion — born of war’s wreckage, shaped from shells and mortar fragments, and transfigured in pure gold. Artist Sergey Melnikoff captures his creation in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, July 9, 2025.

The Angel

The new sculpture pushes this transformation even further. The angel rises more than two meters high and weighs over half a ton. Its face, carved in anguish yet turned toward the light, is framed by two contrasting wings: one of pure gold, symbolizing grace, and the other broken and charred by war.

The figure kneels, one hand raised toward the heavens, the other pressed to the heart. It is both prayer and protest, silent and urgent at once.

The angel’s robe is made of flattened artillery casings, folded to mimic fabric. Only Bielchyk, a virtuoso welder with decades of experience, can achieve this illusion.

Beneath the angel’s feet lies what the artists call “the soil of war”: a base of twisted shells, bullets, and fragments—a cold, metallic landscape out of which the figure rises.

The Art of MFF | Conceptual rendering of The Silent Uprising of an Angel.

The Art of MFF | Conceptual rendering of The Silent Uprising of an Angel.

A Global Premiere

The sculpture will debut outside Ukraine, with several major venues under consideration. The Vatican has proposed exhibiting it in the Braccio di Carlo Magno, a wing of St. Peter’s Basilica dedicated to contemporary work. UNESCO’s Paris headquarters is also on the list, as is New York’s United Nations headquarters and London’s Trafalgar Square—specifically, the prestigious Fourth Plinth, reserved for the most daring works of public art.

Each venue would frame the angel with minimalist curatorial design: silence instead of speeches, subdued lighting instead of spectacle. The aim is simple—to let the angel speak for itself.

The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.

The Art of MFF | Viktor Bielchyk welding another shard of war into the angel’s form.

The Odesa Paradox

And yet, a question hangs over the project: will Odesa itself ever see the Angel?

The fate of the Cross of Peace suggests otherwise. When that piece was finished, Melnikoff proposed unveiling it on Deribasivska Street, the city’s main boulevard. The mayor never visited the studio, and the decision was dismissed in passing over coffee at City Hall. The work was ignored locally—only to be valued later in the millions.

The Angel risks following the same path: born in Odesa, unveiled abroad. In that case, the city will be remembered in art history not as the place where the Angel was first shown, but only as the place where it was made.

The Art of MFF | "The Cross of Peace" Project Featuring the Golden Crucifixion | Brovary City | Photo by Mariia Universaliuk, official photographer of the "Cross of Peace" project.

The Art of MFF | The Cross of Peace, exhibited in Brovary near Kyiv. Photo by Mariia Universaliuk.

More Than a Market

While some in the art world already speculate that The Silent Uprising of an Angel could rival Giacometti’s Pointing Man, which sold for $141 million, Melnikoff insists that price is not the point.

“All of my works are transferred to the International Charitable Foundation Soul of Ukraine,” the artist says. Proceeds from their sale are earmarked for building a Mother Teresa Rehabilitation Center on the Adriatic coast for children wounded by war.

Every spark of welding in the Odesa workshop, in other words, is also a spark of hope.

The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.
The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.
The Art of MFF | The Silent Uprising of an Angel by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF. American artist Sergey Melnikoff with his daughter Anastasia in the workshop beside the clay model of the sculpture "The Silent Uprising of an Angel."
The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.
The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.
The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.

The Art of MFF | The Silent Uprising of an Angel in progress.

The Art of MFF | Artistic rendering of a wing from Silent Uprising of an Angel

The Art of MFF | Artistic rendering of a wing from Silent Uprising of an Angel.

The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.
The Art of MFF | The Making of a monumental sculpture titled "The Silent Uprising of an Angel" by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF.
The Art of MFF | The Great Coat of Arms of Ukraine by Sergey Melnikoff, a.k.a. MFF

Ashes of War

Experts currently value MFF’s sculptures, forged from the “ashes of war,” between $150,000 and $1,000,000.
Private collectors and investors can also commission works—from state emblems to corporate logos. Such pieces not only carry cultural weight but are seen as a safeguard against inflation.