๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐
Beauty that burns, feat. Mira Nedyalkova
Image-making is in part an act of subterranean exploration.
Diving in the psyche; bringing to our senses our hidden caverns, those deep reservoirs of violence and desire.
Maybe weโre a little too scared of these truths, or maybe there are forces around us that are too in awe of their potency, and try to protect us from them.
Mira Nedyalkova is a case study of the creativity born from censorship.
Her work has evolved from classical and experimental studies of nudes, to exploratory work heavily pregnant with sensuality and violence. She uses a combination of traditional photography equipment and techniques, enhanced or sometimes created through AI tools.
But the tools arenโt the point. Nedyalkovaโs work reminds me of others who centre the marked flesh of the body โ Marta Blue, Iness Rychlik, Luca Cacciapuoti โ but with a fantastical eye that expands form and flesh into limitless worlds.
Funny to think this practice was developed through constriction. Restraint.
Social media changed my work.
The naked body for me is a powerful medium of expression and it brought me great inspiration and satisfaction to work with it.
Unfortunately, the censorship became more and more imposing, and gradually my desire to create such works decreased and prompted me to redirect my focus.
Her work has always lived in a blurry space between pleasure and pain, beauty and the uncanny โ now just with new expression.
Somehow, the unstated nudity, the metaphorical sexuality, the undertone of aggression โ is more pronounced to me now than if it were explicit.
To me, our life is a blend of all these elements. In my philosophy, to achieve happiness, we must accept and even embrace pain, making it a friend that we strive to understand and listen to.
Pain is intensity. Pain is self-knowledge.
I am inspired by life with all its nuances. I am inspired by beautyโnot the superficial empty kind, but the kind that can metaphorically burn you when touched. The kind that asks questions and gives answers, the kind that lingers within you, penetrating deeply into both the heart and mind.
Emotion is the heart. So then, whatโs technology?
It allows me to create with greater precision and achieve exactly what I envision.
For me, technology is useful when you know how to use it properly to get the most out of it.
But I don't judge a work by what technology was used to create it.
What matters to me is the end result. How the finished artwork affects meโฆ and if it affects me at all.
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