ELENA NAZAROVA AND SOCIETY AS A CENTRAL THEME IN ART

Elena Nazarova says that, ever since she can remember, she has been drawn to the visual arts, and she feels lucky that, after graduating from the National High School of Applied Arts St. Luka in 2016, she has been able to focus on doing what she loves as a freelance artist. She explains that over the years, people have given her a chance and offered her opportunities while also – in her opinion– keeping their fingers crossed that she will prove worthy of them on the go. Her bold and colorful work has consistently proven that none of this was in vain; at twenty-two, she has had two solo exhibitions in Sofia, participated in several group exhibitions organized by Bulgarian Illustration, Goethe Institute, Urbanites and the Union of Bulgarian artists, as well as participated in an art residency in Paris at Le Laboratoire de la Creation. We spoke to her while she was in the middle of preparations for her next solo exhibition Camp Life at the INTRO Gallery, which will take place as part of the festival of illustration and graphics Fig. organized by CO-OP.

What are the topics that interest you as an artist and why?

I am interested in society. Undoubtedly. And specifically – society right now. This was not the case years ago, when I believed that people are boring, that I was born at the wrong time and various other genius teenage notions. But now I think that people are the most amazing thing and there is so much beauty in the human experience. I'm interested in how the modern world is trying so hard to ignore this. I think this attempt is stupid and doomed to fail, and our way of life is crazy and full of contradictions, but I also think that one of the great features of art is its ability to remind people of things that are more important, more elevated, of the beauty in ourselves and others, which we fail to appreciate. That's also why art doesn't have to necessarily be beautiful. Sometimes in life something bad has to happen for us to appreciate everything we have. And so art can be uncomfortable, challenging, it can show us some harsh aspect of reality or a dystopia in order to achieve that effect.

Which means of expression do you feel most comfortable with, and which ones would you like to experiment with?

I would say that I have mastered illustration as a kind of language with which I feel comfortable conveying various things and ideas. I accept it as a light and accessible form of visual communication that lets me to touch on all kinds of often uncomfortable topics in a digestible and even playful way. When I'm researching something, I take pictures and write, and that's how I get into the topic I'll be working with.

Lately I've been experimenting with sculpture, which for me is something completely new and challenging. In the long term, I want to do things mostly in public and outdoor spaces that can have an entirely local impact and interact with the dynamics of the place where they stand.

What are some of your boldest creative ideas? 

I have lots of those. I hope to realize them before I talk about them. So far, I don't think I've done anything too bold, but all my plans are in that vein.

How has the pandemic affected your work as a freelance artist and what has changed?

Being forced to "remain" in one place and realizing that this was not time to make grand plans allowed me to start noticing more things around me. This seems to be the case for everyone. But during the first lockdown I started to look at things more carefully and draw inspiration from things like the light in the room, the neighbors talking downstairs in front of the building, the dynamics at the local store, the kids in the garden behind the apartment building, etc. Now that there is more movement, I try to preserve this attention and vigilance, not to forget it.

What are the big challenges facing your generation today?

Oh, it's all very difficult for us! It is difficult for us to stay grounded, to think about each other, to be calm and to remember that health and rest are among the most important things. It all comes from mass culture, which constantly spews some distorted individualistic idea of boundless personal achievements and more, and more, and more ....

Tell us more about the idea behind your next project, which is dedicated to refugee camps.

Camp Life is an exhibition dedicated to the current reality of nearly 20,000 people who have been imprisoned and forced to live for years in the extremely difficult conditions of Moria, the largest refugee camp in Europe (on the island of Lesbos, Greece). Human rights experts working for the UN and the EU have described it as the modern equivalent of a concentration camp, Moria is a difficult reality that doesn't get talked about much.

The exhibition looks at the fates of these people and raises pressing questions about the inhumane migration policies of world leaders and the European Union, ethnic and racial discrimination, and other dark aspects of the modern world.

The idea came from several pages I came across on Instagram, all created and maintained by various people who live in the camp. They share live footage and stories every day and appeal to Instagram users to share information about their situation in the hope that this could speed up the migration process, and with it their way out of this dire situation. I decided that I wanted to use my platform, no matter how small, to expose this problem.

In spite of the daily difficulties that these people experience, some of the photos show children playing, people with musical instruments, self-organized activities such as the solidarity kitchen, other types of mutual aid actions, and young people talking about their dreams. I find this absolutely amazing – it's one of those stories that is really worth telling, and it connects to everything I talked about earlier.

You can find more about Elena Nazarova's projects at: : instagram.com/elenka.nana and elenkanana.wordpress.com/author/elenkanana