"EARTH FORCES" Solo Exhibition of Nina Ruseva (with the special participation of Ivan Rusev)
Mission Gallery, Sofia, 2 Alfred Nobel Str.
March 8-31, 2022
Opening: March 8, Tuesday from 18:00 h.
The Mission Gallery of the State Institute for Culture under the Minister of Foreign Affairs is pleased to present a painting exhibition of the talented Bulgarian artist who lives and works in Sofia - Nina Ruseva. Her father, the famous sculptor Ivan Rusev, will join the exhibition with his sculpture as a special guest.
The paintings that Nina Ruseva painted during the period of isolation from the pandemic were inspired by Bulgarian nature and in particular by the caves in the Balkan lands. She rediscovers beauty and is inspired by the perfect natural forms in the Magurata cave. As a contextual parallel and inspiration is the creative inspiration from another cave in the Republic of Northern Macedonia - Vrelo, which is near Skopje. Her meeting with the twin columnswith crystal white color, about 6 m high, other bizarre shapes, many stalactites and stalagmites, as well as the so-called concert hallsgive the author the idea to work in the themes of meetings, dialogue and true power of the stone. From a purely plastic point of view, what impresses her and strives to convey in the canvas through her eyes to the artist is how to recreate a space that is large-scale, crushing, even at times chilling.
Regarding the creative approach in creating her canvases, Nina Ruseva shared: “I try to get closer to some mystical and unrealistic suggestion through color. Contrary to the palette and color range that I use and with which I am recognizable as an artist - bright, strong and clean tones, here in my exhibition "Earth Forces" the range is different: darker, pastel, deeper. I do not stop experimenting, applying layers of paint - just as time has superimposed layers in caves and they have reached their ultimate strength, power and impact to this day. I simplify the form and reach a pure abstraction, without claiming to be completely like nature.
The exhibition is part of the program of the State Institute for Culture "Balkan Dialogues".
Nina Ruseva graduated in 1996 from the Secondary Art School for Applied Arts in Sofia, majoring in Textiles. In 2002 she graduated from the National Academy of Arts with a Master's degree in Painting, and since 2021 has been a Doctor of Arts and Fine Arts at the National Academy of Arts.