About the exhibition “Among the Stars”
I believe that creating something meaningful, impactful, and valuable requires time, patience, depth, inspiration, and authenticity.
The first large painting from the ballet series was created in 2018. I titled it “Among the Stars”, inspired by one of the beautiful poems by Radosveta Avramova – Caribiana. That title eventually gave its name to this entire exhibition.
In the following years, I continued developing studies for more ballet-themed paintings, as well as several female nude figures with surrealistic elements. Gradually, the concept for the exhibition began to take shape. For me, it has been a long journey and an exploration of my inner universe—a reflection of the delicate sensitivity with which I perceive the world.
As an artist who has always explored femininity in its many manifestations, the ballet theme came to me quite naturally. To me, ballet is the epitome of grace, gentleness, and elegance. And even though this subject has been widely used in art, I believe every artist brings their own unique perspective and approach to it.
My interpretation stems from my deep sensitivity and emotionality, my ability to capture the subtlest vibrations in the world around me, my profound respect for the endless, gruelling hours of practice dancers go through—often invisible to the audience—and my awe and admiration at the end of every magnificent ballet performance.
After creating the first painting, I began an in-depth study of ballet poses. I reviewed hundreds until I selected the ones that “spoke to me” and touched me. It was important for the collection to be diverse enough to keep the creative process exciting and engaging.
Another essential aspect for me was the legitimate use of reference images—some I purchased, for others I requested permission from the photographers to interpret, and some came from royalty-free photo sites or artist reference platforms.
From a technical perspective, all of the exhibition paintings are made with oil on linen. Many of them are partly inspired by my decorative series “20 Little Wonders”, where I used oil paints with different metallic effects—bronze, copper, and two shades of gold. Woven into the starry skies, in the dresses of some of the ballerinas, and in other elements, these metallics lend a unique “liveliness” to the paintings and a contemporary, fairytale-like glow under certain lighting conditions.
Preparing the conceptual sketches took several years. Some of them were later finished as small original formats. These helped me develop the colour schemes for the large canvases—mostly limited palettes (mixing no more than 5–6 colours of paint), which always makes the process more efficient and helps me achieve the needed nuances when working many consecutive days.
In the paintings, I combined various techniques—some are painted almost entirely with a palette knife, others with both knives and different types of brushes, and in a few, I used only soft synthetic brushes.
The choice of subjects and poses was driven by my desire for each painting to tell its own poetic story, rendered with a sense of minimalism and surrealism.
Reflections from the studio
Every day felt different—emotionally, energetically, in terms of light, physical endurance, and patience. During the past nine incredibly intense creative months, I approached each day with the mindset that the paintings were leading me, and I was following them. Whatever emerged intuitively—that was it, especially since I was already working within a deadline.
Before beginning to paint each day, I would turn off my phone and read the poem associated with the painting on the easel, to immerse myself in the right emotional state. Then I would carefully choose the music for the day, ranging from Mari Samuelsen’s violin to the soulful Melancolia by Buika, from meditative dolphin sounds to powerful tracks by Teddy Swims, Beth Hart, and Poets of the Fall.
During this intense process, I often thought about the challenges we set for ourselves… In my case—large-scale canvases (by my standards), painting with a deadline, and video documenting part of the process (which I still struggle with, as I see the act of creation as something deeply personal that should retain a bit of mystery).
I was singularly focused—turning down countless invitations, to preserve my energy. Whether in cold, rain, or heat, I would wake up early and go to the studio like a soldier, because I had a goal and wanted to achieve it in the best possible way. Contrary to popular belief, persistence and discipline are a huge part of creating a meaningful art collection, and they truly made this project possible.
The rest was about nurturing my inner landscape with beautiful, carefully chosen things—for example, I read only science fiction in the evenings for months (Asimov’s entire Foundation series, the whole Dune saga, everything by Liu Cixin); I spent time with only a few but deeply creative people; I watched many podcast interviews and intentionally distanced myself from daily trivialities, low vibrations, and sensory overstimulation.
If you’ve made it this far by reading (and not just scrolling), kudos to you :). As you can tell, being someone who values depth over surface, there’s a lot behind my paintings. And yet—
What is the message of the exhibition?
At first, I thought of naming it Longing for Lost Innocence. Then I figured, in this chaotic world, I might be getting too poetic—and no one would come to the opening. 🙂
Joking aside, my paintings are infused with a deep and enduring longing for beauty, contemplation, the ethereal, the sublime. This exhibition is my heartfelt tribute to elegance, grace, delicacy, and sensitivity.
“Among the Stars” is, above all, a reward for myself. Through it, I celebrate eternal and universal femininity—but also the gifts of my own maturity, which I have inevitably captured in the splendour of colours and fairytale elements across the canvases.
