A bright room, encapsulating a holistic experience, originating from my growing interest and reflection on the aesthetics of religious art, and its role as a foundation of understanding imagery in Western contemporary art. The church with its aura and rituals, sharing traditions with exhibition spaces.
As an artist coming from an Eastern Orthodox country, I have noticed the presence of iconography is widespread and has been used as a medium for circulation of ideas throughout the ages. It makes you wonder where do familiar images come from and what were they influenced by?
For me exploring this means looking upon it from the perspective of a person detached from its religious aspects and attached to it as a working space. “Archetype” is a reflection on my relationship with art, due to growing up in Bulgaria in a family of conservators and church fresco painters. I have spent my spare time on scaffoldings helping out, which enabled me to perceive this century-old institution as a place for work, art and exhibitions. The main focus of this project is the notion of the importance cultural heritage has in terms of shaping one’s worldview and the role of art as an object of worship.
