Elena Gileva

History and culture expressed in objects are a fascination expressed throughout my work. Observing and studying formal aspects of artifacts as well as learning their meanings and histories drives me to create contemporary rendering. I am interested in the material culture by means of expression and interpretation. Decoration and surface are my main basis for the transmission of a concept. Abandoning current trends of minimal, modern and postmodern and purely conceptual I take ORNAMENTAL as a subject, object and symbol of the old and new; the spiral movement of history. The object as a power tool is crucial to communicate ideas. In that respect archaeological or museum objects are of great importance. Not only do they tell us a story but they also contain layers of information and significance that informs our understanding of cultures and history. One singular object is never enough for a full picture, it is rather through a group or sequence, a composition of them that those speculations and theories can be made. Acting as a ‘collector’ of surfaces, ideas and shapes I seek to assemble an eternal universe of my own.