Hi Iren!
Congratulations on being shortlisted
for the Cluster Crafts Residency 2021

How would you introduce yourself to the Cluster readers?

I’m originally from Sofia, Bulgaria,
and am currently based in Gainesville, FL.

I earned an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
in 2019. Alongside my busy career as an artist I’m Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Florida.

How did you get here on your creative journey?

I was pre-med at university and taking so many science classes
that I needed a creative outlet, so I signed up for a ceramics class.
Over the course of two years my focus shifted and I became a ceramics studio assistant. I finished my pre-med degree but then decided
to do a post-baccalaureate program after graduation
that led me to residencies and graduate school.

In 2020 I was selected as an Emerging Artist by Ceramics Monthly Magazine and as a finalist for the Hopper Prize.

Tell us about the work you submitted…

I submitted work that I made for my solo show Just Before in 2020
while visiting Faculty at Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary, Canada. I was researching liminal spaces
– both tangible and intangible.

I embrace the lyrical atmosphere governed by magic and surprise and create sculptures
that address the mystery within gaps of logic. What I call, logical tangles.

I am drawn to forms, materials, and thoughts that are suggestive and exist somewhere between reality,
dream, and possibility.  My ceramic lattice forms are simultaneous trellises, ladders, windows,
and modular breeze blocks similar to those in Luis Barragán’s buildings.
Ultimately they are the structure of a thought. My work is a reflection of time – both real and imagined.
In the silver leaf covered ceramic pieces the sculptures reflect not only the viewer
but also themselves and the space. The reflection is always changing, and light becomes both
an active participant and a creator of space. The silver leaf that coats the ceramic
underneath exists in an almost space. It is almost mirror and almost fog.

Almost is full of promise. Almost has potential. Almost is a moment that has infinite possibilities.

The work is disorienting and confuses the senses, allowing for knowing and feeling to coalesce.
I’m negotiating between reality and possibility, between connection and estrangement,
between forwards and backwards.

I create systems of thought and possibility that not only communicate, but also celebrate the almost.

How would you describe your creative style
and way of working?

I work in both intuitive and highly controlled ways. There is a meditative cognitive capacity in the slow pinching of the monolithic structures.
I construct these forms by building parts of a unified whole,
later combining them to reveal the final piece. This process of working
on a pinched mass is quite different from the way I construct the lattices that are built piece by piece. The process is slow, precise, and controlled - from beginning to end. The Floofs are constructed utilising a new process that was informed by the lattices. I make hundreds of individual spikes and insert them one by one into the body of the piece.
It is a process marked by precision and patience.

The surfaces are equally important. I select materials and glazes
that mimic other materials. For example, the sand glaze speaks of both the sand dunes in Florida and the snow covered mountains in Canada.

Social media and you: the good,
the bad and the ugly. Tell us all…

Social media has been a great tool
for establishing connections and discovering new artists.
Personally, I utilise it as a sketchbook or studio diary
and mostly post images of my process.

What’s on your creative calendar for the near future?

I am currently creating work to send to Milan for the Officine Saffi biennale and making sculptures for a solo show at Parallelogram Gallery (Tampa, FL).
I’m also looking forward to making a series of drawings this summer.

Personal motto/mantra?

I’m not sure I have one!