I am a subtly expressive « craftsmen » with a certain minimalist rigor who aims to explore, from a formal aspect, the relationships between one piece and the whole, and identical different.
I have always been enticed by the idea of creating pieces that are sufficiently expressive individually, yet could also serve as constitutive elements within a whole. Through the creation process each piece searches for its autonomy and progressively, begins to construct itself. Each piece therefore holds the potential to be independently representative and also exist within a variety of combinations, thus could serve as a starting point for future installations.
It is painting approached as a malleable plastic art form that has been most appealing to me. I prefer to experimenting and allowing each piece to evolve gradually, rather than undertaking the process with a set concept in mind (through visual reference, for example).
The frames that I use vary, but my preference is for the 100cm square format because it allows me to work from different angles without deciding its « correct » position from the start. As I apply the paint to the framed canvas, I strive for a sole deliberate texture, one that appears rather monochromatic. Everything starts with the choice of canvas. The canvas, with its autonomy, serves as both the base of each work onto which the paint is applied, and the structural foundation. Each step is significant and influences the finished piece.
I also work with words—specifically, with their potential to exhibit the relationship between the literal and the nuanced. The paintings are not only texture that is literally present, but also texture in a figurative way. I « weave » onto the « text-ure » the embroidery of words, usually well known archaic phrases, clichés, but also excerpts from different types of literature, or simply my own combinations, because I am fascinated by their meaning – more often than one – and the capacity for layered interpretations. The words, with their simple graphical presence, complement the pictorial richness, become one with the visual and govern, to an extent, with their diverse meaning.
I am also inspired by politics and the characteristics of the environment in which I live, so some of the words are reflective of our day-to-day. Many of them also describe my work, in a way, and could serve as possible definitions of art in general—not excluding the humor and sarcasm, of course. My hope is to succeed in harmonizing the conceptual, the derisory and the contemplative scope of painting through color and the pictorial richness on one side and words and their insinuations on the other, and that the process of melding these ideas transforms my pieces—both individually and as a whole—into a dynamic, self-renewable foundation.
Igor Angelov 