Underrated Artist Found !! Nikolinka Dimitrova - Episode 1

As usual, I was browsing Instagram at 6:30 in the morning and came across this, what I think, unbelievably good artwork from Nikolinka Dimitrova. So I pm her and asked, why she wasn't famous yet? 😉

I see so many good artists, who have not been adequately recognized yet.

So to help, I'm posting her biography and will start "The Underrated Artist Episodes" Blog 😍. This is the first one, with many more to come.

So here is Nikolinka's Story, Enjoy!

When I was a child my life was not easy, I grew up with an overbearing father and under constant dissatisfaction and criticism. I didn't realize that this had its consequences on the formation of my character. I didn't realize it until at least around my 30th birthday. At some point, a very close person told me that he felt under constant pressure around me, that I was always criticizing and that, made him feel under constant pressure.

I knew that feeling very well. In fact, I realized that without even realizing it I was copying the pattern I had grown up in. I wanted to change, I knew it was right to achieve something better for myself and the people around me. After all, a bird doesn't learn to fly when its wings are clipped, it learns to fly when you help it spread them with love.

I spent the next few years reading psychology, meeting with a psychotherapist, and working on myself. All the information I absorbed changed my view of things, and brought me a lot of awareness and understanding, of myself, of the behavior of others, and understanding of their reactions and the reason for them. When you show empathy, when you step into the other person's shoes, the tension, the conflict situations, everything melts away. You are able to see behind the foggy veil of primal reactions of irritation, or misunderstanding. You are able to show patience and give the necessary support to have good communication.

My experience as an illustrator added to the new way I perceived the world. I've always observed people, their expressions, different emotions, and body position and that's what I've needed in my work. It's not easy to recreate an emotion on the snout of an animal or to guess the exact look your editor wants. As I've gained life experience, I've realized that I often observe the same patterns of behavior in different personalities, different ages, and genders.

And this became a new important theme in my life. In fact, it became the theme of my art. I want to convey the transformation I experienced. I want to help other people overcome difficult moments and achieve a better version of themselves. But real change doesn't come from the outside. It can't be forced. It starts from within and if the individual wants it. All of my paintings focus on life situations that each of us has been through, and emotions that each of us knows and has experienced. And always, always there is a postulation, something to think about, something to provoke a process of reflection.

I quite tendentiously choose to paint bodies naked. The clothes carry a message - a police uniform, a banker's suit, or a girl in a defiant outfit. This always sets up certain expectations, barriers, and/or labels. But underneath the clothes is a person who, like me, like you, has been sad or is going through a difficult time and their job or social status doesn't change that. That's why I choose to paint only the person, without those extra "filters". My focus is on the individual and the knowledge and understanding of ourselves.

Usually, I use symbols, in the "Dreams - Memories" combo I chose the veils as a symbol of mirages. Those past moments in our lives that we always come back to, whether with regret or with pleasure and hope and dream to repeat. But the truth is, what is gone will never be repeated and is left behind. It's hard to drive the car forward if you're constantly looking in the rearview mirror, then you easily lose the road ahead. The same happens if we indulge in excessive daydreaming. It's impossible to walk on a rocky road if you're constantly looking at the clouds at the top, sooner or later you'll trip. That's why this beautiful, romantic composition is dedicated to those moments when we wander somewhere with our minds, lost in mirages of our past or future, but not present here. She is weightless and standing still somewhere in space, long gone out of her mirages. But she is not moving anywhere, in fact, her life has stopped. If we realize the deceptive power of this "dance" of our thoughts, we will not often fall into the trap of fantasies.

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