Kalina Mavrodieva

When specific images capture my mind for a long time, I start painting. During my work, I answer the question of why exactly this has attracted my attention and what is the meaning of realizing my idea. The images I use in my paintings are close to me, they are related to encounters with people and places or to my feeling from this encounter. Often in my work I recreate memories that I want to relive. Sometimes faded and even changed by time, but decisive in the formation of my perceptions. The authenticity of the experience and the influence of the image on me enhances my creative sensitivity during work. This helps me to be as honest as possible with the viewer.

I am showing several series of paintings that I have developed consistently in recent years. Through them, I present my reflections on how important the process of contemplation and the brief moments in which we dream are. In these quiet processes I discover one of the paths by which a person can reach the elevation of the spirit and the inner freedom, so necessary to live truly and fully. In search of the means to achieve this harmony, I look to nature, to the preservation of truth, to the essence.

In the series “On the Ridge” and “After Yourself” there is no human image. He/She experiences what he/she sees. The paintings present his/her gaze, gazing at the pink-blue sky or the view when walking along the ridge of the mountain. For me, these paintings are quiet and solitary. As is the inner world of a person. They are a path in search of happiness and beauty.

Kalina Mavrodieva

In my works, I explore themes that are close to me, related to my personal experiences, this allows me to take a close look at the objects I depict. I examine each individual theme in a series of canvases and drawings. I approach painting as a reduction process, removing or partially blurring the original images, trying in this way to build on them with a new meaning. I work on each individual drawing a little at a time for a long time, so the painting carries the overlay in time and the imprint it leaves on it. In the process of working, the radiance of the painting is constantly changing. I stop when I feel its spirit, its uniqueness. The material that attracts me the most is paper. For me, it is special and provokes me to be as candid as possible during work. I work on paper with oil paints. This technique allows me to give the image a softness and vitality that I cannot achieve with any other material. For me, the feeling of contact with the painting, the atmosphere and the state it draws me into is very important.