Meet Victor Selin | Gold Calligrapher & Materials Scientist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Victor Selin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Victor, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I built my brand by starting at the top and opening the door. Originals are luxury objects, engineered and finished with the care I learned in the lab. Then I listen, really listen, to what people ask for, and I design the ladder that lets them step in, from editions to commissions. Demand writes the brief. I treat intuition like a compass and experiments like a map. If an idea sparks, I test it, log it, and standardize the part that works, so the poetry stays and the quality repeats. The result feels rare to own and easy to approach. That mix, luxury with access, is the single biggest reason the brand works.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I make gold calligraphy on black. The materials are beautiful and strict, so only experience truly helps. I test ideas in the real world. Many concepts I loved turned to dust the moment they met a surface. When that happens I rethink, reposition, and try again. Fear of mistakes is real. I manage it with small trials, clear notes, and the rule to stop before overwork erases clarity.

What you see is the tip of the iceberg, a calm gold surface with clean edges. Below the waterline lives the business and the lab, sourcing leaf and boards, tracking orders and drying windows, logging tests, rejecting what does not hold up. Important steps I do myself, the core drawing, the finish decisions, the final inspection. Less critical tasks I delegate. I also ask for help often, my friends’ talent is part of the work now. I keep the studio as a small club for people who love this language of gold and black, we gather with friends, talk with visitors, and let the work breathe in conversation.

It was not easy. Gold leaf is unforgiving, substrates are fragile, and life does not pause for a perfect burnish. The lessons are simple. Test small, then scale. Leave time for the piece to rest. Protect energy. Keep the bar high and the mood light. Ask for help early. Balance personal life with the same care you give the surface.

What I want the world to know about my brand is this. Expect luxury standards and human warmth. Every piece carries the proof of many quiet trials, so you can feel the art and trust it. If the work resonates, there is a version that will fit your space and last.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Austin reads like a living page of hieroglyphs to me, so I’d start by letting you hear the rhythm. On Thursday nights we slip into B.D. Riley’s, I play Irish flute with friends, and the room turns into a small orchestra of joy. The next morning is a golden breakfast at my Studio T8 in Art Hub ATX, coffee on the table, fresh sheets of black board on the wall, and my gold script laid out in mirror and satin tests you can touch with your eyes. We talk materials, we laugh about the pieces that fought back, and you leave with one new favorite. From there we drift to Art for the People Gallery to see more talented work, including mine, and to feel how different voices handle light. The rest of the week is simple, we move between quiet water and bright rooms, we collect textures, we let the city suggest shapes. By the end, Austin feels like a curated spread of gold on black, a set of glyphs you can read, remember, and take home.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate this to the quiet forces that move any of us forward, the first yes that gives momentum, the patient teacher who says prepare first, then polish, the simple notebook that turns instinct into clarity, the thoughtful questions that make an idea real, and my loved one who turns late nights into progress and keeps laughter in the room. If you have ever offered a yes, a lesson, a page for notes, or a kind question, you share in this success. Thank you.

Website: http://noirgold.art

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noirgold.art/

Image Credits
Olga Bulava
Anastasiya Ilinskaya
Denise Holguin