Akim Alekseevich Sgibnev mastered various types of graphic techniques, focusing primarily on linocut in its black-and-white and colored variants. His sheets from the 60s and 70s are rich in natural observations, character types, genre scenes, and landscape motifs drawn from numerous trips across the republic. Sgibnev is unique both in his choice of thematic aspects and in his interpretation of graphic form. The absence of a professional school for this artist is compensated by his study of nature, a passionate interest in what he depicts, and the charm of an almost folkloric naivety. Each of his prints carries the imprint of surprise, admiration, and empathy experienced by the artist in his encounters with reality, people, events, facts, and works of literature and art.
Like other graphic artists of Kyrgyzstan, Sgibnev enjoys working in series. A broad graphic panorama of the labor life of the republic, filled with impressive imagery, is provided by his series of linocuts (mostly using color) such as "On the Kyrgyz Highway" (1963), "Border Guards" (1963), "Kenes-Anarkhay Studies" (1966), "Naryn Hydroelectric Power Station" (1966), "Kara-Suu Coal Mine" (1967, fig. 205), and "Temir-Tau — City of Youth" (1967). The sheets from these series are generally densely filled with visual material, rich in compositional discoveries and unexpectedly expressive details, reflecting life’s authenticity. Bright images are created, for example, in the engraving "In Such a Steppe" (from the series "Kenes-Anarkhay Studies," fig. 204), where the wide breath of the virgin land being cultivated by humans is conveyed with poetic feeling, as well as in the richly colored lithograph "Young Fisherman" (from the series "Naryn Hydroelectric Power Station"), which captivates with its harmonious combination of natural beauty and human creations.
Sgibnev is an artist who acutely feels the life of nature, which is uniquely spiritualized in his works. For example, the depiction of the mountain river "Naryn," which appears multiple times in the artist's prints, each time presents a new imaginative quality. In the sheet "First Pillar" (1957), it is a dynamic, shimmering mass. The resilient, flexible stroke here expresses the bold nature of the river winding through its rocky bed. In the engraving "River Naryn in Shamal-Say" (1963), there is a different transformation of the image. The waters of the Naryn, seemingly displeased with human interference in its life, roar restlessly. The water surface is rendered here with alternating bands of short, choppy strokes. The Naryn impresses differently in the lithograph "Young Fisherman" (1966). Covered by reinforced concrete blocks, the river breathes slowly and wearily, emanating a sense of submission and warmth from its spent waters.
An important place in Sgibnev's work is occupied by the historical theme related to the life and activities of M. V. Frunze. He created series of colored linocuts "M. V. Frunze" (1964) and "M. V. Frunze in the Tian Shan Mountains" (1972), which represent narrative stories in which the artist widely employs the principles of folk and lubok interpretations of visual form, characteristic of his overall work. In this endeavor, Sgibnev was aided by the study of documentary materials, literary sources, and the actual locations visited by the commander. The sheets charm with their unique compositional solutions, the artist's careful and sincere attitude towards the image of the hero, emphasizing such human qualities as closeness to the common people, naturalness, and kindness.
Sgibnev has many individual, thoroughly interpreted compositional prints, in which his impressions and reflections on various themes are synthesized. Among them is the colored engraving "By the Old City of Osh" (1962), which possesses an astonishing sunny mood, and the freshly cut and printed linocuts using several colors "New City of Maili-Sai" (1977), "At the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Station" (1979), "By the Alamudinka River" (1979), where Sgibnev celebrates the joy of life and the beauty of modernity.
