How and why did you start your artistic career? 

Growing up, my childhood home was filled with paintings, sculptures and ceramic pieces made  by other artists, all of which left a big impression on me. I am still quite attached to those  pieces; they were my first point of reference when it came to art, and I was able to admire and  study them up close for as long as I liked. I used to draw on A4 printer paper my parents would  bring home from work. I loved looking at the white stacks of paper resting on the table with a  ballpoint pen in my hand.

Funnily enough I didn’t think about being an artist as a career path until I was in my teens. Now this decision seems like a no-brainer but at the time I wanted to  learn languages. 

How did you discover your medium and why did you choose it?

I had a traditional Fine art education which included painting, drawing, sculpture and  printmaking. Towards the end of my studies I had to pick a specialty and I chose painting. Nowadays I like to work in a variety of mediums depending on the piece but when it comes to  my painting practice I alternate between oil and acrylic. I like them both for different reasons  – when working with acrylic I tend to be more decisive and precise, whereas I am looser and  freer in my mark making when I use oil paint.

Can you tell us about your creative process? How did your work come about? How  long does it take you to create an artwork? When do you know it’s over?

Usually, there is a very clear image in my head of the composition, colour and size of a piece. I work from observation and imagination and often combine the two. I am interested in the  domestic space as a site of emotion and memory and see the interiors in my paintings as  ambiguous, in-between spaces which can be inviting but also slightly puzzling. In my most recent  paintings I build on my use of shadows as a way of suggesting presence – embracing the  paradox of using the intangible to render something tangible but also to allude to the passage  of time. Each piece has its own rhythm: sometimes I can finish it in a few hours and other  times it can take days, months, years. In the past I used to focus on one painting at a time but  now I try to work on a few canvases simultaneously to avoid feeling like I am stuck and to help  ease the pressure connected to productivity. I consider an artwork finished when there isn’t  anything else to add to it, it is something quite intuitive and personal which I think all artists  share. 

Who are your favorite artists? Which ones are you inspired by?

I have a holistic approach when it comes to what I like to look at or experience: sculpture,  photography, installation, performance, film, literature, music, architecture… In terms of  contemporary painting, I am inspired and moved by the works of Louis Fratino, Lenz Geerk,  Alex Foxton and Diane Dal-Pra all of which create quite sensitive, poetic and delicate imagery  that equally feel intense and powerful.

THE ARTIST

Name: Mitko Karakolev
Occupation: Painter

FEATURED WORKS