Nina Lishovska and Iliana Ilieva
“Ecstatic”
Curator: Hristina Bobokova
Painting and Sculpture
June 4 – June 23, 2024
The Nuance Gallery is pleased to present an exciting dialogue between two different artistic approaches that complement and enrich each other. In the gallery space, you will witness the interaction between the emotional depth of painting and the expressive power of sculpture.
The exhibition “Ecstatic” is a curatorial project by Hristina Bobokova that has been in the making for quite some time and has traveled a long path. It brings together the works of Nina Lishovska and Iliana Ilieva, talented women who are collaborating for the first time in a joint process of creation and spiritual experience. Both artists have contrasting artistic expressions, making the project particularly challenging and ambitious. Without seeking comparison in their artistic narratives, the works of both reveal similar themes, but are unfolded with different approaches. The title “Ecstatic” initially introduces the theme of excitement, ecstasy, strength, and the exuberance of life, but in reality, the feelings, dynamics of emotions, and power, the elemental thrill or quiet introspection are the main lines of exploration in the works. In classical Greek literature, the word “ecstatic” means “outside oneself” and is associated with the subjective experience of the subject with the object of their awareness. It refers to the removal of the mind or body from its “normal place of functioning.” It can be said that ecstasy is an example of an altered and heightened state of consciousness, characterized by reduced awareness of other objects or complete lack of awareness of the environment, but associated with a highly pleasurable experience. This is an unusual mental state, but it can also be perceived as a spiritual dimension where the control of normal actions and reactions is absent. The exhibition presents artistic “slices” of such uncontrolled states, brief excerpts from the dynamics of elemental trance and the experiences of the authors or their characters, who come from different temporal spaces.
Iliana Ilieva presents her latest series of canvases and drawings, exploring the dimensions of mastered elemental power, the beauty of static force that has overcome its destructive nature. She examines the elegance in movement that has creative power, as well as in its stillness and quietness. According to her, in times of increasing entropy, the pursuit of exploring staticness, introspection, and contemplation is important for inner growth and elevation. The images of the characters are powerful yet ethereal, strong personalities with decisive behavior and stoicism, but in moments of contemplation and excitement. Through the techniques of painting, the sensations of various textures such as ether, skin, feathers, and stone are recreated, which caress the eye and impress with strength and power.
Nina Lishovska presents a series of sculptural pieces that contrast the essence and structure of materials. She works effortlessly with porcelain and ceramics, as well as wood, glass, and bronze. Her works are highly sensual and imbued with the mysticism of bliss, perfection, myth, and legend, with an elastic wholeness in which bird and human, woman and man, divine and mortal coexist… Balancing between the longing for the ancient world and eternal human dilemmas, and their contemporary dimensions, the works recreate states at the boundary of drama and humor, of crying and laughter, of elemental force and stupor, the power of silence and the forces of love and freedom. The decisiveness of the images is expressed in their calm, natural, soft movements and forms, gently processed surfaces, and impeccably clear essential claims that speak without words, sing without sound.
