Choices. Every Day.

[acrylic on cotton canvas] [series of four works] [2026]

These works were created during the art residency ‘Direction STRONG’, organised by Emprove Foundation. Together with Bulgarian and international artists and with the support of our Women Survivors, we created various pieces of work (visual art, music, film, photography, sculpture, and embroidery).

About my works

The four paintings explore the conscious and subconscious choices a Woman Survivor makes, as well as the forces that guide her in different directions. Although countless paths lie before her, the work focuses on two of them: the path of fear and shame (the red canvases) and the path of support, peace and freedom (the blue canvases).

These choices are not made just once. They recur — daily, across different stages of life. For this reason, the work is conceived as a cycle of four canvases: the larger paintings symbolise the significant, directional choice, while the smaller ones represent the repeated, sustaining choice — the rhythm and cyclicality of lived experience. A Woman Survivor carries what she has lived through for the rest of her life, yet the way she holds it within herself shifts over time, depending on the support she receives, her environment, and her inner state.

The quotations written along the sides of the canvases are real words heard by my Woman Survivor, Misheto, and me — words that have influenced the direction a Woman Survivor may take. These include phrases spoken, for example, by judges during court proceedings or by members of the Emprove community — words that can either confine or empower.

// documentation on alwiki
// 2 х 40х50 см & 2 х 15х15 см
// muse: Mihaela Markova (Misheto)