Iliyan Ivanov Iliyan Ivanov's Biography Iliyan Ivanov, a native of Burgas, Bulgaria, received his fine arts training under the mentorship of internationally recognized Bulgarian painter George Yanakiev. Parallel to his college studies he has worked on a number of independent projects and organized a number of "happenings" fussing theater, music and art. Ivanov came to the US in 1994 and for the first two and a half years lived and worked in the Mid-West. In 1996 he collaborated with the sculptor Ken Ryden and presented the one-person show "Tides of Time" at Ryden Galleries in Anderson, IN. The works from this period reflected the artist’s immigration experience and travels in the "New World". His style embraced both figurative and abstract imagery in a mixture of painting, drawing and collage. The artist moved to New York City in 1997 and has since participated in a number of group and juried shows, presenting his art primarily at galleries in New York. For the last six years he has continuously developed an interactive multi-panel project, entitled "The Revolving Doors". Works from this project (two-side painted compositions) have been installed and presented as a part of "The Time Square Plan for Peace Project" in the summer of 1999 and solo shows at the Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria as well as at Chashama and CURB Galleries in New York. These permanent installations have been created on compact disc, presenting an unusual opportunity for the viewer to assemble their own compositions from the components that the artist provides. In such way viewer’s participation becomes an integral part in unfolding the diversity of emotional interplay between the individual pieces. Regardless of medium and scale, Ivanov develops his ideas in thematically related series that challenge the observer’s own creativity. Ivanov’s interactive works have been internationally recognized through invitations to the "International Art Festival of Light" in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and in "Contemporary Bulgarian Artists in New York" show in Manhattan in 2003. His internet début was marked by an invitational solo show at ImagineStation web site in the spring of 2004. The artist is also a co-founder of the CURB Arts Group- a New York based non-profit organization that promotes aesthetic dialogue through alternative space exhibitions in cities around the world, including New York, Amsterdam and Sofia among others. Ivanov and his family live in New York City and he continues to balance careers in art and science.   Iliyan Ivanov's Personal Statement The meaning of artistic expression for me has always been an alternative way to share my inner thoughts and emotions. I remember vividly playing "the drawing game" with my grandfather- we would start with ten sheets of paper and whoever completed first his share of animal pictures without repeating a drawing, was the winner. And nothing could match the sweetness of such a win. Through out my school years I frequently went on to draw illustrations as an addition to my literature assignments- from "The Little Red Hood" and "Alice in Wonderland" to classical novels and sci-fi books. It was like retelling the stories in colors but taking it even further and creating my own illustrative narrative. I view my art as a personal landscape where mundane objects assume new functions and unseen before associations unfold. The transformation of meanings in accordance to a changing surrounding is an underlying motif in all of my work. This process requires an ongoing artistic exploration of contradictory concepts that co-exist in the pictures I create – for instance the illusion of movements versus the static nature of the painted image or the dual role of the picture as a component of a larger composition as well as a finished solitary object of art. My inspirations often stem from scientific and philosophical concepts. My interest is in the artistic interpretation of theories, derived from robust logical methods, and metaphoric rethinking of hypothesis that suggest ideas, applicable to everyday life. Such exploration tends to describe the emotional shaping of human reactions in the process of interaction between the mind and the material world. This interactions bring into being the magic of experience- a unique epiphenomenon which captures the "here and now". It is this experience that I struggle to trace and commemorate in my work. Another source of inspiration for me is music. Being a musician myself I have always been fascinated by the emotional dialogue that takes place between the musicians and the audience in a live musical performance. Translating the intensity and the dynamic of such a performance into the "frozen" images of my pictures has been a life-long goal of my artistic development. For me the interplay of figurative and abstract imagery is analogous to a musical improvisation over classical scales – one could begin and end up at the same key but the journey always takes different paths. In my latest works I have been exploring different materials and mediums- linen and canvas, paper, wood, cardboard and window blinds. The media and techniques used in the creative process reflect the underlying artistic concept- the mixture of "incompatible" pigments with different viscosity and solubility results in unpredictable interactions that "spill" from one picture to the next. This idea is amplified by neighboring realistic images and collages with expressive, more abstract brush strokes- a juxtaposition that prepares the viewer to anticipate the unexpected. It also requires that the viewer would "complete" the art- work by "connecting the dots" and "filling in the blanks" in their mind thus bringing into life personalized versions of their own. Vassily Kandinsky once wrote: "Art is a path every man must walk. Every man must walk it creatively (whether actively or passively). And there is no spiritually mature man who does not need this path or manage to avoid it." To me it only seems that the effort to actively walk this path will be the most rewarding one.