Artist in Focus: Iskra Velitchkova
Artist in Focus is an ongoing series featuring hic et nunc artists. Interested in being featured in the series? Please complete this form.
PT: Tell us a little about yourself, including what brought you to hic et nunc.
IV: My background includes work with data visualization, information design, and technology strategy, first with my own studio and then for corporations like BBVA, one of the world’s largest financial institutions and a leader in digital transformation.
I think hic et nunc is more than a platform. Hic et nunc is a movement.
Over the last few years, though, I reoriented my career towards the search for new ways of communicating beyond today’s algorithms. Life is not just about the digital. Or the physical. Every experience shapes and prepares us for what is to come. I don’t think we should make technology more human, I believe that we have to push technology forward to understand ourselves better. Can technology make us more human? I work on that. Mostly, through works that focus on observation.
I came to hic et nunc for environmental reasons, but now, after being here for a while, I feel like it is a genuinely honest space. From its UX to the whole community, I think hic et nunc is more than a platform. Hic et nunc is a movement. All this movement around NFTs is a perfect environment in which to interact with amazing and talented people. I’m currently working with Marcelo Soria-Rodríguez (@msoriaro) in creating a physical space for this digital emergence.
PT: What’s the story behind the piece you selected to share?
IK: No name IX is part of my generative explorations.
PT: Can you share an element of your creative practice?
IK: I mix technology, plotting, painting, and sculpture. With Balkocc, which is the way I express my “personal mission,” I explore the relationship between Balkan and Mediterranean patterns and their corresponding aesthetics and mood. It’s about roots.
To build this piece, I broke it down into 4 stages. First I explore, through abstraction, different patterns and ways of representation. At the same time, I use GANs to go over the aesthetics of the Slavic culture. This leads me to combine those aesthetics with real Balkan and Mediterranean patterns, which I plot and register with my camera to process it and to finally set it all up on sculpture pieces of clay.
Every stage of the project generates an independent collection of pieces.
PT: What’s a recent work that you collected on hic et nunc that you’re excited about and why?
IK: A few days ago I collected this wonderful work by Advan Shumiski — @shumiski. I stood in front of it for a while, and it touched me in some really beautiful way. I think the work of this artist inspires some kind of truth. I hope to see more!
PT: What is something you’d like to see for the future of hic et nunc and NFTs?
IK: I’d be happy if we just keep walking together.
Iskra Velitchkova’s collections
More of Iskra Velitchkova’s work can be found here.
IK: I would say my most beloved collection on hic et nunc is my first one, Generative Nature. I guess it’s like the first kiss?!
