DANIELA KOSTOVA
Artist Statement
I am an interdisciplinary artist who examines hybrid cultures and architectures that emerge from conditions of global change and migration. My personal narrative and background inform all of my work. Originally from Bulgaria, I grew up in a homogeneous communist society, participating in the turbulent transition to democracy, and later immigrated to the U.S.
Having lived in two very different environments (Bulgaria and the U.S.), I look for connections and points of convergence, hoping to thus create accessible entry to my work. My projects engage with specific sites and communities, simultaneously engaging with the global subject and discourse in art. I start with a conversation, a found article or an event, which unfolds into a fictional narrative in installations that include video, photography and sculpture.
My studio practice is based on carefully constructed photography sets and scaled models of my installations. I explore—and deconstruct—the notion that we live in a constructed reality by introducing unusual perspectives that subvert mainstream narratives. Here, I use technology strategically in order to make the real seamless and absurdly precise.
In my latest body of work, I photograph my young daughter Vega’s adventure and rest. The images are enlarged and outputted as vinyl film or wallpaper. These large-scale skins are adhered to vernacular architecture in a way that brings the images into an active connection to a site. The work jumps from the intimate scale of home and learning to the public scope of industry and commerce. The photographs become a dramatic part of the physical architecture of the gallery, further dislocating the scale and narrative of the familiar household scene. Here, and in my practice at large, I deliberately merge the space between art and life.
Past Solo Exhibitions:
LOOSE, 2016