I am a contemporary figurative artist, based in London, UK. Being an immigrant has a huge influence on my work, as my way of staying connected to my culture is directly through my works.

I explore various subjects from Bulgarian folklore and heritage, using very traditional elements and objects, such as embroidery and pottery designs, with mythological themes and universal symbols. I implement and transform ideas from different rituals and fables to create a contemporary interpretation of my culture, emphasising on the mystical and esoteric aspect of it.

With my works I want to strengthen and expand people’s awareness of the still existing cultural diversity in a current world setting, where globalisation is the new trend. With ethnicity being melted down, I consider it really important to acknowledge and preserve our own heritage.

The work is inspired by Bulgarian mythology and folklore. This is a special work for me as it is the first portrait of my best friend , who is dressed in a traditional Bulgarian costume, and I really wanted to focus on capturing her essence alongside the idea of the work. The main symbol in the work is that of the Mother Goddess, which can be expressed as an energy source, where the thread of life comes from and encircles everything with the life spark. This is a female energy in general, which is all giving, nurturing and life forming, but at the same time, being a dual energy, it can also breathes out the life of all things.

The spirit is her energy double, serving as a protector, and the symbol behind is also a representation of the mother goddess, which multiplies the power by the repetition. The background motif is used traditionally in weaving and embroidery, symbolising the birthing Mother Goddess.

This is my first self-portrait from the Mandala series. I wanted to do a painting inspired from Pink Floyd`s Dark Side of the Moon and used myself as a reference. I have used much more intricate and complex Bulgarian pottery design reference and a completely different colour palette from traditionally used in this type of work. That particular design gave me the feeling of a sun eclipse with multiple colours and shapes radiating from it.

In the figure the eclipse is symbolical, meaning the starting process of a significant internal change. To represent the idea of growth I use threads inside the body, which form the body/mind itself from the chaos.

The work is inspired by the traditional symbol of Kanatitza. This is the graphic motif behind the figure, which is a very ancient symbol known all over the world. In Bulgarian tradition it is used to portray the unity between the female and male energies, the center of the motif is where the actual dualism exists, the balance between yin and yang. The figure on front is wearing multiple masks and multiple layers of clothing, but INSIDE, where there is nothing else but the creative force.

I am using threads coming out of the inside as a way of visually describing the “weaving” of oneself. With this work I wanted to create the feeling of “darkness and emptiness” embodied in layers of fabric and colours, thus creating a balance.

The work is inspired by Bulgarian mythology and folklore. The idea for it came to me while I was watching Hayao Miyazaki`s “Spirited Away” and I have used the same title for this reason. The predominant symbol is that of the goddess and the spirit, enriched by the graphic visualisation of it in the background, also a symbol of the goddess . This is a traditional Bulgarian symbol used in various techniques like weaving and embroidery and is a symbol of the Mother Goddess. She is the source of the energy, and in the work she is The Observer, but at the same time the spirit is a projection of herself and she, being multifaceted, can materialise in various ways. The energy that carries two sets of masks is a traditional Bulgarian spirit, called Kuker. This is a person dressed as a monstrous creature, whose purpose is to scatter the evil.

The costume here is actually reversed, the kuker is wearing a human mask. This is representation of the duality in our world and how things are interchangeable, maintaining the same strength, only reversed.

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