In the beginning was… the puddle – without any provocation or wordplay on the bible. Because even the “most primitive” creation can sometimes ignite the divine spark.

Mariangela Anastasova literally paints with “puddles of water”, that is why she chose a title for her exhibition at the Sofia Press bookshop-gallery that would describe it best – “In the beginning was… the puddle”. “Then come colour, shape and the creation of the end results,” she says:

“It is a way to turn the process of depiction around – instead of starting out from an idea, I start with a random shape that comes from spilling acrylic paint onto water with a special kind of thinner,” says Mariangela Anastasova. “I myself am surprised, because so many things are happening - they change constantly and, in practice, I enter into dialogue with these puddles of paint. And the result is much more interesting than if I myself had dictated the subject-matter.”

Water saves lives, helps create life, without it there can be no life. There are people who even say it conveys information. For Mariangela Anastasova, however, it is a key which unlocks hidden spaces in her own soul.

“Working in this way I instinctively reach out to something inside me that is very authentic, something that is mine and mine alone, and while I paint, I connect with what is happening all around,” the painter says.

From this translucent world of serenity creatures are born inside of us, around us, creatures whispering the words we need to hear most:

“To my mind, art cannot be separated from the situation in the world, from what directly affects us in our everyday lives,” Mariangela Anastasova goes on to say. “In Bulgaria – and not only here – what I miss is communication and authenticity, but I get them both through my painting technique and they are there to be seen in the exhibition. We are, in fact, in a critical place in the world. But I am not fond of an ideologically-based way of thinking - that is maybe what is happening in this country – people have seen all kinds of ideologies and are now bascking away from them in different ways. That is why there are so many light colours in my paintings - because what I want to see is more light. There are some which are humorous because the painting is about me, or the world around me. For instance, my latest work is called “I am flying” but where? I don’t know, but it’s great to have the urge to fly.”

With her “Levitation”, “The soul of grass”, “Transparent series of angels”, “Magic yeast”, “Signs, shadows and echo”, Mariangela Anastasova takes us to uncharted dimensions, but she also has the skill of bringing us back to Earth abruptly. The performance “On the other side of the Bulgarian umbrella” is a reference to a past in which there is murder, “State Security” and evil unpunished.

• 1978 - Georgi Markov and his In Absentia Reports about Bulgaria

“That was a project we did with Rakursi gallery and a very good photographer – Gregor Schatz – in the garden next to the National Theatre,” Mariangela Anastasova remembers. “Together with quite a few artists and students we poured water into open umbrellas, looked at the reflection of the sky, the clouds, the trees in the water; it was very beautiful. Everyone took a picture and they all sent me a detail – print on silver foil. When we got back together the participants finished off their details and the result was some very different and beautiful umbrellas. This project aimed to change the way we look at the Bulgarian umbrella (connected with the murder of Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov by the Bulgarian secret service in London – editorial note) and to show that Bulgaria is more than these high-profile affairs. Bulgaria is art, that is why we turned the Bulgarian umbrella around, on its art side.”

Mariangela Anastasova received a cosmopolitan education. At the Académie des beaux-arts in Paris she graduated painting with a “student of a student of Henri Matisse”. “From him I gained confidence in colours, because he found the way I worked was similar to that of Pierre Bonnard and that was very liberating,” she says. In Mexico the painter honed her skills as graphic artist and was even involved in creating murals. When she returned to Bulgaria she dedicated her time to different kinds of activities, including teaching. It is precisely during her work with the children that she created the technique “art surprise”, very much reminiscent of a kind of therapy.

“What it actually is is a way of living, a practice, with the help of which, in several sessions, we achieve a level of satisfaction with the sense of lightness,” the artist says. “But it is not a way to escape reality, it is an intervention into reality.”

At the Zahari Zogrtaf drawing school in Samokov and the Anglo-American School of Sofia, where she teaches, Mariangela Anastasova is able to breathe freedom – she has created her own course of study, frequently renewing her techniques and the way she works with the children because “just like the world, they too change a lot”.

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: Diana Tsankova, Facebook / Sofia Press bookshop-gallery, Facebook /Mariangela Anastasova