“Womb”
debut solo exhibition
of Yoana Angelova-Todorova
ceramics and photography

For the first time within the framework of the Sofia Paper Art Fest, Amateras Foundation presents a joint project with UniCredit Studio to support and showcase the debuts of young artists.

The pilot edition of the initiative introduces Yoana Angelova-Todorova – an artist with an established presence in photography, who develops her own elegant and recognizable artistic language in the field of ceramics.

With the project “Womb,” the artist unfolds a new direction in her creative explorations, where materiality, imagery, and emotional depth intersect.
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Here is what she shares about her project:

“As part of the Sofia Paper Art Fest 2025 programme, under the motto “Spirit and Matter,” the current exhibition is shaped by the choice of media – ceramics and photography, the two majors I graduated in at the National Academy of Arts. The presented works of clay and light carry within them the idea of matter and energy, form and image, earth and sky. Even metaphorically, we can say that human being is created from clay /the material body/ and from light /the soul or the Divine spark/. It is a beautiful and profound notion that unites the physical and the spiritual within each one of us.

Within the context of this exhibition, the womb is not merely a biological or feminine metaphor, but a symbol of the space where life emerges – whether in clay, in light, or in our consciousness. Nature becomes the outer expression of the inner – it is the material of the ceramics, the subject of the photographs, and the emotional background of the entire exhibition.

As part of a festival devoted to paper art, “Womb” highlights paper as a primary material – from photographic prints on heavy etching paper to wall panels made of paper clay.

“Paper clay” is a material created by mixing slip made from any type of ceramic body with paper pulp in varying proportions. The new mixture retains all the characteristics and working properties of the original clay body – plasticity, colour, shrinkage, and others – while at the same time gaining additional flexibility and lightness in its plastic state, thanks to the interaction between the two materials.

The venue of my first solo exhibition also prompted me to reflect on memory and the layering of history. Under the overarching title “Womb – In the Bosom of Nature…”, the photo series unites images, each bearing its own name. “Ascension,” for example, evokes a connection with the medieval Orthodox church “St. Spas” (“The Ascension of Christ”), the remains of which lie today in the basement of UniCredit Bulbank, rising in the heart of Sofia – my beloved hometown. The ceramics, created through inlaying coloured bodies, visualize the idea of layers – of both the material and history.

And yet, for me, this exhibition is above all a symbolic return to the womb of Mother Nature. In one of the photographs, Nature is adorned like a Bulgarian bride – with metal ornaments reminiscent of pafti (traditional belt buckles) and leaves that bring them to life. Between the metal and the greenery unfolds the evocation of fertility and the feminine principle. A symbol of vitality and grace, The Pafti (Belt Buckles) of Mother Nature weave tradition into the organic rhythm of the animate world.

This connection between nature and the feminine is felt not only visually but as an intimate perception – the womb of Mother Nature is not measured by scale, but by closeness, warmth, and protection. Immersing – for example, in the silence of the forest – one feels both humility and belonging.

On the other hand, clay, drawn from the womb of the earth, carries within itself Nature’s primal warmth and the memory of creation. The colour palette of the smaller ceramic pieces in the exhibition evokes a sense of home-like comfort, conveying tranquility and the tenderness of a mother’s embrace. In harmony with them, the greenery overflowing from the photographs calms the mind and creates a feeling of peace and balance.
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The photo series “Womb – In the Bosom of Nature…” is film photography created using the technique of multiple exposure. And while in digital photography such an effect can be easily achieved through software processing, in the past – in analogue photography – it required a far more careful approach. The overlaying of images happens directly on the film: instead of advancing the roll, a new frame is exposed onto the same area, allowing layers of light to intertwine in the camera. Striving for authenticity, I returned to this classical technique to construct my images.
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Today we are long accustomed to digitally manipulated images, which is why this technique may no longer appear innovative. Yet it continues to expand creative possibilities and to allow the creation of truly unique images.

My series of multiple exposures transforms natural details into an image of the coexistence between contrast and concord – an energy inherent both to photography itself and to life.

The works presented are shot on Kodak colour negative film, with exposures layered directly in the camera. The images, captured on the classic Leica format (35 mm film), depict details from the parks and streets of Sofia. They are printed on high-quality Hahnemühle FineArt paper (German Etching 310/285 g/m², Matt FineArt – textured) and mounted on Dibond aluminum composite panels.

Each photograph in the series measures 30 × 20 cm (50 × 40 cm with the wooden frame) – large enough to reveal details, yet still intimate in scale. The frame in “natural wood” colour conveys warmth and serenity. Its choice is not accidental, but an extension of the idea embedded in the photographs themselves. In them I seak the living presence of nature – its authenticity, its texture, and its light. The natural wood tone harmonizes organically with the nature-inspired motifs. Thus, the frame becomes not merely a finishing touch, but an integral context that accentuates the inner harmony of the theme and helps the viewer return to the primary sources – light, earth, wood, life.

In the embrace of UniCredit Studio gallery, my works reveal themselves to the viewer, inviting close contact and careful observation. The exhibition “Womb” unfolds as a space for reflection and contemplation, enveloping the visitor in the warmth of nature’s very essence.“
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The exhibition opens on November 20, 2025, at 6:00 PM and can be viewed until December 5 at UniCredit Studio (7 Sveta Nedelya Square, Sofia), from Monday to Friday between 10:00 AM and 5:30 PM.

Sofia Paper Art Fest is realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and the Visual Arts Program, the Calendar of Cultural Events of Sofia Municipality for 2025 and UniCredit Bulbank.