I work as an artist, graphic designer, researcher, and facilitator. I experiment with practices connected to visual, digital, sound art & experimental publishing. In my practice, I weave diverse lines of work and disciplines - artistic research, collaborative practices exploration, publishing, documentation, and addressing socially charged themes with a mixture of mediums.

_årtist statement

My artistic style is experimental and laboratorial. I am constantly trying out various techniques and stylistic approaches. Many of my works are always work in progress, and I don’t need something to be polished before I share it. I value imperfection, small details, errors, and intuitive decisions when visualising complex concepts - very much in the concept of DIY & DIWO cultures. Anything that makes the artwork humane.

Currently, I am interested in mixing different mediums and experimenting with visual, digital, and sound art with the touch of experimental publishing. My latest research and artworks approach the notions of time and interconnections - I wander in the realm of speculative and possible futures while acknowledging the past and all the implications coming from the choices we’ve taken in the past and present.

_exhibitions & residencies

[2024-09-24 ~ 2024-12-20] Artist-in-residence at CYENS x ThinkerMaker Space x EdMedia Research Lab. Created the social artist game Our Future Is Somewhere Here. Group exhibition 13~20 December 2024 at ThinkerMaker Space gallery. // Nicosia, Cyprus

[2024-11-26 ~ 2025-01-31] Biennale of Illustration 2024 at the Sofia History Museum // Sofia, Bulgaria

[2024-07-17 ~ 2024-08-09] Extratonal Residency #1, part of Platform for Extratonality, hosted at Varia. Created the sound art experience Trains Always Bring You To The Future and performed it in Varia on the 9th of August 2024 [sonic works here] // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2023-12-01 ~ 2023-12-03] Meet the Makers, collective exhibition organised by the Hmm and the participants in their FYI Digital Makers’ programme // Amsterdam, the Netherlands

[2023-11-02 ~ 2023-12-02] S.Å.T.E. - Sounds at the Exposure, hosted by sign project space // Groningen, the Netherlands

[2023-06-29 ~ 2023-07-02] Making This Bubblic was the group show of the graduates at Experimental Publishing 2023. For the exhibition, I created an installation and presented my publication Sound Jams: Deluxe Edition at the Blob Shop. // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2022-09 ~ 2023-09] Coordinator & care-taker of Willem de Kooning Academy’s in-house residency Room For Sound // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2022-05-17~2022-07-17 + 2023-11] Awakening Between The Lines at the National Gallery Kvadrat 500 // Sofia, Bulgaria

[2022-04] Co-facilitator of an artistic workshop on the topic of feminism WeMen. Participation in group exhibition called Expussytion and curation & design of its e-zine catalog // Segovia, Spain

[2021-09-10 ~ 2021-10-08] Crown Shyness in the Halley // London, UK

[2020-11] Biennale of Illustration 2020 at the Sofia History Museum // Sofia, Bulgaria

[2020-05] Illustration Pop-Up Vol. 3 online exclusive // online

[2019-08] illustration Pop-Up at ko-op gallery // Sofia, Bulgaria

[2017-10] Subjective Mapping 14-day residency and a group exhibition // Brivezac, France

[2014-09] Sidewalks Neighbourhood, solo photography exhibition and design and illustration of sidewalk diary look-book. The project was funded by Sofia municipality’s Programme Culture // Sofia, Bulgaria

_publications

[2024-06] How To Sound Jam - a collection of 62 prompt cards that inspire a collective sound-making experience // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2023-06] Sound Jams: Deluxe Edition - a mixed-media publication, project of my master’s research at XPUB // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2022-04~06] collective artistic publication Radio Implicancies, as part of my master degree studies @xpub // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2022-04] Yin Yang collective publication by Floor van Meeuwen, a collection of thoughts for/how self-publishers [to] balance the struggle of publishing in the climate crisis era // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2022-01~03] Participation and editing of our XPUB collective artistic publication This Box Found You For A Reason, as part of my master's degree studies. It was launched at page not found // the Hague, the Netherlands

[2021-12] Three illustrations were published in the third and last edition of Podslon magazine: 3 online and 1 in the printed edition [mental pain: clouds in the head] // Sofia, Bulgaria

[2021-11~12] illustration & graphic design of visual guide I Can Myself [bulgarian, мога сама], created together with Emprove foundation. The e-book is created to support mentors in Bulgaria to help women who survived a toxic relationship and need support in building up their autonomous life // Sofia, Bulgaria

[2021-09~12] collective artistic publication Learning How To Walk While Catwalking, as part of my master’s degree studies. It was launched at Varia, a collective space for everyday technologies. // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2021-03~04] Illustrations and design for the illustrated e-book Sofia’s Adventures in the Entrepreneurship, a project co-created with Elena Nikolova and FEB (female entrepreneurship Bulgaria) with the support of the Bulgarian Fund for women. More about it here. // Sofia, Bulgaria

[2021-04~07] Illustration for the first and second editions of the magazine Podslon - a social project addressing the challenges and issues of mental health. The illustration is published both in print and on the website.

[2021-01] A comics and visual storytelling project sofiaslice - a funny city heroine, whose stories depict the current life in the Bulgarian capital - Sofia.

[2020-09] Illustration on series of poems by poet and activist from Afghanistan Parwana Amiri produced by Brush&bow. Published on their blog. // online + London, UK

[2020-08] Illustration of series of articles by Kenyan journalist Winnie Linet on her experience in Lebanon working under the Kafala system. published on open democracy. Produced by brush&bow

[2020-02] Illustration of a booklet, part of project tandem for culture - Europe [commissioned work, see here] // Vienna, Austria & Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, France

_performances, workshops, and events

[2024-09] EP launch of Trains Always Bring You To The Future at radio WORM // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2024-09-07] Facilitation of a Sound Jam workshop: audiozine making at the Indiecon festival // Hamburg, Germany

[2024-08-09] Performance of the outcome from my residency at Platform for Extratonality, presenting the sound art EP Trains Always Bring You To The Future // Varia, Rotterdam [NL]

[2023-11-05] Facilitation of a Sound Jam workshop: audiozine making at the Zine Camp, worm // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2023-04-29] Experimental sound performance at varia together with mitsitron and kamo, part of Extratonal Infrastructure #4 // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2023-02-12] Live sound jam session at Radio WORM Expanded, re#sister, together with mitsitron and Supisara // Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[2022-09-5~20] Co-facilitator, editor and contributor at the Music Moves You[th] residency-workshop, organised by Nomadways // Burlats, France

[2022-06-22] Participation in collective performance X-unPub, created by Harold Schellinx at La Générale with xpub1 // Paris, France

[2022-06-20~23] Together with xpub1, a residency at La Générale: Sound Publishing where we launched the final release of our weekly radio implicancies experiments // Paris, France

[2018-09] Organiser and curator of Crèestival a visual and performing arts 3-day festival // Brivezac, France

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_collectives & memberships

blob shop collective . created by us, the 2023 graduates at experimental publishing at the piet zwart institute . based in Rotterdam & Amsterdam [nl]

nomadways . between 2016 and 2024 I was a part of the association’s core team. As an artivist there, I designed workshops, residencies and trainings that brought artists and educators together to experiment and play with topics and mediums. [France + internationally in Europe]

pen&pen collective . in 2021 I co-founded together with Silvia Alba a visual doing collective which specialises in visual translation. we turn complex information into visuals that are easy to digest, facilitate creative boost sessions and design interactive live fresco boards for a better connection with event audiences.

Brush & Bow . 2020+ I am an illustration contributor to the creative journalism project brush&bow: we are a collective of artists, journalists, researchers, musicians and social workers based around the world, working in collaboration with citizen journalists to highlight individual voices within wider socio/political issues. [uk & internationally]

ICOM . Member of the International council of museums since 2019.

Female Entrepreneurship Bulgaria . In 2019 I co-founded a women entrepreneurship collective. [Bulgaria]

Emprove . 2018+ I am a visual communication, illustration and design contributor to the Emprove foundation that aims at supporting and empowering women who are domestic abuse survivors. [Bulgaria]

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_education

2021-2023: Master of Fine Art and Media Design: Experimental Publishing [xpub], Piet Zwart Institute [Willem de Kooning Academy] / Rotterdam, the Netherlands

documentation of my master research you can find on my XPUB wiki page

2016-2020: Bachelor of Art History, National Art Academy / Sofia, Bulgaria

2016-2020: Bachelor of Art Education Theory and Practice, National Art Academy / Sofia, Bulgaria

2010-2012: Professional certificate in marketing, the Chartered Institute of Marketing / Maidenhead, UK

_awards

2023: Master research award by Willem de Kooning Academy, together with Erica Gargaglione & xpub3 group

2013: 30 under 30 in Forbes Bulgaria's first selection

2012: Second laureate at the European Commission's Project Passion competition E-Skills: Jobs of the Future.

_technical skills

drawing // Adobe Fresco, Procreate, Concepts
graphic design // Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
sound // Ableton Live, Serato DJ, Audacity
video // iMovie
writing // Bulgarian and English [writing and editing], basic HTML, CSS, Python
languages // Bulgarian [native], English [C1], German [A2]

get in touch

find me on social media or write to me: aaaalnik [@] gmail.com

you can also sign up for my monthly art newsletter.