Simona Racheva

Fine Art - BA (Hons)

I am a multi-disciplinary artist born in Bulgaria who moved to UK in 2019 to study BA Fine Art at Anglia Ruskin University. My practice is centred around exploration of materials, colour, composition and conceptual ideas.

A key concern is the presentation of the work and the environment where it exists, with the presence of specific areas of text a common aspect. These are often short phrases that keep the work ambiguous and open to interpretation. Taking feelings of doubt and insecurity as a starting point, my main influences are my personal experience, interactions and observations of my surrounding environment.

My Degree Show installation presents a series of small-scale text works that combine printmaking (Letterpress) and embossing, and canvases with painted areas of text. These works explore the presence of duality in society by overlapping texts with opposite meanings. The visibility of both types of statement allows the viewer to see what was meant to be unknown and raises questions about truth and honesty. I am inspired by the presence of text in our everyday lives.

Addendum: Simona was awarded the Supanee Gazeley Fine Art Prize 2022 for her major project work