Introduction
Sparkling reflection: The dazzling works of the studied artist vary between the extremes and go beyond the framework of traditional painting with a tremendous intensity. Scenes set in abstract spaces are created at the interface of analog drawing and digital manipulation. Vast land beams the viewer into surreal worlds – beyond the limits of imagination. Her creations illustrate the void with a touch of nonchalance and thus enable the viewers to get deeper into nothing but themselves, leading the way along phantasmagoric paths to incomparable states of mind and intense self-reflection. They show impressions hovering between memory and vision, between reality and fiction – pushing the boundaries of space and time.
Through her works, Nora Ampova who is now based in her home country Bulgaria after studying in the UK and living in Switzerland deals with experiences of an emigrant and traveler.
Infused with the feeling of wistful longing, her artworks appear like modern, unconventional, and almost ironic versions of masterpieces of early German Romanticism. The tranquility of the endless expanses is reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich’s most famous works and complemented by a mesmerizing radiance: While the melancholic touch of the early romantic challenged traditions of Baroque landscape painting in the 19th century Nora Ampova, however, breaks with the romantic tradition by adding bright outlooks through neon colors to her paintings. Her unique creations bursting with energy and enthusiasm thus tell stories not only of yearning and unfamiliarity but also of wanderlust, pleasure, and arrival – at a surreal universe that holds new perspectives.
During the process of transforming her original paintings into digital works Nora Ampova artfully edits parts of the original, and in this way shifts not only the original atmosphere of her paintings but also, in the surrealist tradition, the world as we know it.
Through the beaming background of the pieces the artist’s personal background comes into the picture: It illuminates the viewer how our surroundings shape our thoughts, our history, and our being – and adds a sparkle to the viewer’s world.
Bio
1989 Born in Sofia, Bulgaria
2011 Specialised in Fine Art at University of Hertfordshire, UK
2012 Bachelors Degree in painting at the National Academy of Arts Sofia
2014 Masters degree in Painting from the National Academy of Arts Sofia
2016 Winner of the Unicredit Bulbank and Stoyan Kambarev Foundation Young Artist Award
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Gesture – Little Bird place Gallery, Sofia
2022 Tachyon - Arosita Gallery, Sofia
2021 Total Internal Reflection - Little Bird Place Gallery, Sofia
2021 Stories from the Cloud - Nuance Gallery, Sofia
2020 One Billion Seconds - Doza Gallery, Sofia
2018 Cosmos 2018 - Unicredit Studio, Sofia
2016 Hide and Seek - City Gallery on the island of Lesvos, Greece
Group Exhibitions
2022 Space and Presence - Permanent Mission of Bulgaria in Geneva;
2021 Thresholds and Marks - National autumn exhibitions, Plovdiv
2015 The Next Step Generation - the Building of the European Commission in Brussels
2015 Image and Likeness - National Gallery, Sofia
2015 Attention: Fresh Paint - Sofia City Gallery, Sofia
