figurative sculptor
A few little projects I did in the yard of a kindergarten in Sofia. The pieces were completed together with the kids. We had a lot of fun, while exploring natural materials and learning about land art and simple shelters.
The travelling “Ritual Art – Time and Space” exhibition in which I am taking part is coming to Sofia 🙂 The participant’s work of the Old School Residency 2015 will be exhibited in three exhibitions in the first few months of 2016.
15th – 26th of January 2016 – Nuance gallery – Sofia
15 th – 26th of Feb 2016 – Gallery of the Association of the artists Burgas ( 22 Alexandrovska str. )
1st – 14th of March 2016 – Gallery of the Association of the artists Ruse (6 Borisova str.)
These two sculptures were created during my stay at Gorna Lipnica, as a participant in the Old School Residency 2015.
The two figures are performing a contemporary ritual, concerning contemporary issues. They are inspired by real models from fashion shows. The combination of natural and industrial materials in this work plays an important role in the concept of the piece – the legs of the figures are made out of charred branches set in concrete and plaster; their heads are wrapped in plastic.
I was very lucky to be part of this year’s Old School Residency in Gorna Lipnica. The theme of the residency was Ritual Arts – Time and Space. I interpreted it in two different ways and created 2 bodies of work. One was an outdoors site specific sculpture which I will describe in this post. The other consisted of two figurative sculpture that will be part of the travelling exhibition of the residency.
Healing Hut is the title of the 4 metre – high hut, that I build in the yard of the old school in Gorna Lipnica. The hut looks like an ordinary pile of straw, except that it has an entrance and an exit. The viewer is invited to walk through the spiral tunnel inside the hut and by doing this to leave behind everything negative from his life. This ritual act reminds of a traditional Bulgarian ritual called “squeezing” in which people wriggle through a narrow space in order to lock behind illnesses.
Contemporary Rituals – Healing Hut
Rituals are means of overcoming unachievable difficulties.
From illness to health
From death to life
From one social role to another
I have to mention my great helpers for this project – Ivo and Lubo. Thank you very much!
These traveling flowers represent the globalization of flora that exists within the artificially made landscape. This work was commissioned by the National Trust for Trelissick Gardens in Cornwall.
Couple of months ago I received exciting news from a friend of mine in Wales – she was getting married! So i had to figure out a gift for her wedding and her new home 🙂 Of course it had to be hand-made and I decided it would be nice if it is something connected to the Bulgarian culture. I came up with the idea to buy a chan. So chans are big bell which are believed to scare away evil spirit with their sound – perfect gift to protect their new home 🙂
Below is a picture of kukeri, performing traditional ritual dances. You can see the large chans attached to their belts. 
On another bright summer day i went for a walk to the nearby lake 🙂 There i met an old man, a shepeard. He had recently sheared his flock so i asked him about the wool. The man was so nice to agree to give me the wool, saying he couldnt really sell it.
On the next morning i went to his house with a warm, homemade bread, which i exchanged for the whool 🙂 The old man was pleased and promised he will have much more wool for me if i bake him another bread!
What followed was a lot of hard work, scalding the wool with boiling water and washing it in the river on my village.
My mum and dog were happy helping me clean the wool.
Next stages were drying of the wool and carding it.
The whole scouring of the wool turend out to take so much longer than what i expected. After a week of work i had some ready material to work with. Fianlly I started playing with the wool in the creative way i love!
Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens is an exciting new attraction in West Cornwall! Take a day off to visti the beautiful valley and please check my work on display there! Yesterday i delivered 3 pieces, which are now on the top shelf in the shop! One of them is the award winning “Between Nature and Society”!
Presiana Shisheva 