Gallery installation view with a wall-mounted blue snake sculpture, a painting of two figures beneath palm trees, and a ceramic figure balanced on a cactus base — Pathways to Bliss (2022)installation view01/09

Wide gallery corner view with a large palm-tree painting, the boy-on-cactus figure, a sculptural palm tree, and a snake on the floor — 02/09

Salon-style wall hang of dozens of small colorful paintings, with sculptures on pedestals below — Pathways to Bliss (2022)ceramic sculptures, glaze, oil pastel drawings on papervarious sizes03/09

Painting of two figures beneath palm trees against blue and pink grounds — See You in the Next Realm (2022)acrylic and oil pastel on canvas165x130 cm04/09

Detail of a ceramic figure of a boy climbing the wall, standing on a pink flower atop a cactus base — Where Am I? (2022)ceramic sculpture, glaze, two parts160x36x20 cm05/09

Ceramic sculpture of a face crowned with a painted panel of flames and snakes, set on a green cactus-like base — Venus Snaketrap (2021)acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, ceramics, glaze130x50x22 cm06/09

Two-tone ceramic sculpture of a dark glazed figure and a brightly painted figure standing back to back — First Metamorphosis (2021)glazed ceramics28x22x10 cm07/09

Ceramic sculpture of a cowboy figure with a pistol, seated above a row of pink comb-like teeth — Cowboy & Mermaid (2021)ceramic sculpture, glaze35x37x25 cm; 17x25x7 cm08/09

Ceramic figure of a mermaid with blonde hair and a blue scaled tail, arms raised overhead — Cowboy & Mermaid (2021)ceramic sculpture, glaze35x37x25 cm; 17x25x7 cm09/09

Exibition (09/09)

Pathways to Bliss

Type: Solo exhibition
Curator: Vasil Vladimirov
Venue: Ko-Op
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
Dates: 2022
Photos: Mihail Novakov

Text

Pathways to Bliss is a multidisciplinary installation composed of drawings, paintings, and sculptural forms, unfolding a dreamlike, non-linear narrative. Inspired by mythological archetypes and figures drawn from dreams, the work explores the subconscious as a space where beauty and monstrosity coexist.

It reflects on how ancient symbolic forms continue to shape the psychological landscape of the modern individual, often surfacing as irrational fears, desires, or emotional paradoxes.

By visualizing and recontextualizing these inner figures, the installation gives them a new life - one that bridges personal mythology with collective imagination.

Referencing sources like the medieval Physiologus and Joseph Campbell's Pathways to Bliss, the exhibition suggests that confronting our internal myths can lead to a more honest and integrated experience of contemporary life.

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