Post-Communism Symmetry-13 - Limited Edition of 1 Photograph

Born and raised in Bulgaria, I graduated with a double major degree in Fine Arts and Architecture from the National Academy of Arts. I`ve worked long years as an architect but always been in art world as I dealt with painting and photography. I`ve lived in various parts of Europe, participate in a number of collections, exhibitions and art forums all over the world. A few words about how this project was born. I was born in Bulgaria during socialist regime in control and now 30 years after the democratic revolution, traces of the communism are still all around me. The buildings` exterior reminds me of the spirit of the time and the heritage of the Iron Curtain. Countries from the former Soviet bloc and Eastern Europe have maintained huge buildings, made of thousands of tons of concrete and metal, some of which show greatness, others inspire awe, but all in a brutal and rough aesthetic. Ugly and rough, ragged concrete monsters are scattered all over Bulgaria. The landscape of the dystopian panel blocks that turned cities into gigantic mazes of concrete show the Glory of Roughness and Crudity. Many people who have not actually lived in this kind of architecture consider it interesting, and often tell me that it reminds them of a cyberpunk genre, which I think is mostly because of the colors and atmosphere that created by this roughness.Recently, instead of renovating the entire building at once , everyone refurbishes their own apartment and so now the gray concrete is "dressed" in different colors especially in orange, brown and blue. In addition, there are numerous satellite dishes and cables attached to exterior of each and every apartment window that creates crowded and stacked landscape. I realised that these buildings are still a part of my life, and despite their past, they can be my inspiration as well. I`ve started taking photos of them and portraying them in a non-orthodox and fantastic way. With the surrounding background view of residential buildings and the co-operatives, the panels stood out strange and grotesque. Like a spaceship from an old sci-fi movie landing in the middle of nowhere. The grandeur of architecture, its repetitiveness and symmetry provoked me to transform them into geometric abstraction, I wanted to break the visual boundaries and show a different point of view, one with a unique look.