Opening Reception for Artist Ellie Ivanova "Archive of Abandoned Dreams"

For the month of February, Gallery 1855 at Davis Cemetery (820 Pole Line Rd, Davis) will feature “Archive of Abandoned Dream” from Bulgarian born artist Ellie Ivanova. A special free opening reception will be held February 8, 2015 from 1-4:00pm. Ivanova is best known for her luminous dreamlike studies characterized by their exquisite use of light and composition. Ivanova’s pictures engage the sense of wonder almost as much as the sense of sight. The mystical series is homage to the worldview her grandmother instilled in her with her dark but alluring fairy tales and warnings. In this series she seeks to capture the elusive familiar figures and entities from those cautionary tales and personal life stories of triumph. This series also draws inspiration from the poetry and symbolism of 20^th century Bulgarian poet Dimcho Debelyanov.

"The ideas and approach to life of symbolists are relevant in a world built on facebook  mirages through which we create ourselves and relish in (mis)communicating false representations of their lives and dreams that seem more compelling when ambiguous and words are transformed into image."

Originally from Bulgaria, Ellie Ivanova is a fine art photographer based in Texas. Ellie works in both traditional and experimental photography formats to produce photographic objects that allow the image to evolve and shift beyond its capture by the lens, using processes such as mordancage, embedded photograms, stitching, ripping and printed surface deformation.  She uses old Eastern European medium format low-end cameras like Perfekta, Certo-Phot and Lyubitel that were popular in Bulgaria until 20 years ago to honor a vision of the world that came through the camera lenses of my parents and grandparents whose dreams received a radical amendment 25 years ago. Their goal is to reflect the uncanny worldview of anxiety and hope that gave shape to the Bulgarian experience of the 20th century.