http://www.artslant.com/la/artists/show/66770-konstantin-zlatev

Artist Statement My project is a series of paintings which use flowers as a point of departure. The purpose of this project is to decode nature in a non-representational and personal way, by fusing my feelings and ideas to my imagination in visual form. I intend to create a body of work based on my observations of flowers. When I see the flowers, I think about how they bloom every year. I want my life to be blooming like a flower. This feeling helps me create my paintings

“The ground we walk on, the plants and creatures, the clouds above constantly dissolving into new formations — each gift of nature possessing its own radiant energy, bound together by cosmic harmony.” — Ruth Bernhard.

As a photographer of urban and rural landscapes, I’m elated when there are clouds giving texture to the sky. The elusive, ethereal, and elemental beauty of clouds has always enthralled me.

I tend to see patterns of color, shapes and shadows in both natural and man-made environments, capturing the beauty created when these two environments combine. I’m now working in my studio with kiln-formed glass— transforming these images into layered glass "paintings". Working with different types and sizes of glass (opaque, translucent and clear sheet glass, powders and frit) lets me manipulate the light, depth and texture in each image.

Flora’s main medium is metal. It is man-made as well as natural. It is her canvas. Like a Zen alchemist, she works the surface, creating patinas through the application of an eclectic mix of chemicals and compounds to copper, brass, aluminum and steel. Through multiple applications she strives to achieve an amazing range of patterns, textures and colors. These are then cut up and applied to geometric box shapes or bent and shaped into non representational wall sculptures. Flora completed her MFA in 1990. As a result of this program she began to incorporate her interest in Buddhism with her art. One teaching of the Buddha that she uses for inspiration is the understanding of impermanence— fleeting nature of time—which is reflected in the spontaneous nature of her art. Flora’s work has been exhibited in both solo and group shows in numerous galleries in the Bay Area and New York. Her work has been published in two nationally juried publications: Open Studio Press and, American Art Collector. 

Spring 2011. Juror’s Choice Award, 1st place, sculpture, at the ArtSpan Benefit Show & Auction.

Winter 2010. Flora was one of twenty artists chosen for ArtSpan’s biennial juried exhibition, Selections, shown at California Modern Gallery in SF.

Spring 2009. Flora spent 14 days on a solo retreat at the Morris Graves Foundation in Loleta, California.

Flora has studied at the School of Visual Art in NYC, has a Masters of Painting with Summit University and took classes with master artist/teacher Elaine Badgley Arnoux of San Francisco. She taught at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

"Using nature as metaphor to explore human spirituality and connectedness the common thread I weave throughout my photographs reflects upon the poignant meditative beauty of spirituality, loss, fragility and hope that reaches beyond the eyes and into the soul."

GLASS
 I often work with glass, which is a particularly magical medium. Being translucent yet solid, as an invisible boundary, it simultaneously is and isn’t. This reflects well my intention to make manifest subtle philosophical concepts. The kiln work in the studio is itself alchemical and the effect intended for the viewer is none the less so. My work serves as a portal to that which we recognize as absolute. This transportation can be as simple as losing oneself in an intricate colorful flower pattern; or as complex as visually entering a mysterious architectural structure where a non-linear stage setting appears to be casting a spell.
DIGITAL WORK
My current drawing and painting involves recording what is, especially when I am drawing strangers in public. I am not overlaying my message on the subject but the message or mood emerges of it’s own. See more at betweenstops.wordpress.com where I accompany the image with fictional text as a comment on our society and our personal lives in it.
9x9s
Viewing the 9 x9 series reads more like a painting on a wall. Make a statement like “Yield” or another traffic instruction (navigating through life) but in in a primary and basic way. Modern Heiroglyphics made from coloured glass in molds fired and cut and refired until the thickness and stability of the glass feels more like stone than crystal. The surfaces have the warm friendliness of a worn building who has seen time pass. Friendly and wise.

Hava is a visual artist working in painting, photography, and video. She is interested in seeing beyond the visible eye to the microscopic and molecular elements that make up our world, those elements that invisibly control our destiny. She takes the word visual seriously.

Hava completed her MFA in painting at San Francisco Art Institute in 2010. She lives and works in San Francisco's hopping Mission District, where visual inspiration of all forms is extreme.

What is the point of abstract painting? For me it's a response to years of making photographs. A photograph is inherently representational because it is a capture of light bouncing off, or emanating, from a physical form. One can crop, print or otherwise manipulate an image into an abstract representation but there is still a sharp divide between my hand as an artist and the finished piece.

A few years ago I began having dreams in which I was moving and manipulating color directly with my hands. Shortly after that I happened to be at a demonstration of paints, received a small sample bag to take home and here I am. In truth it is a bit of coming home as I grew up in a household with an abstract painter and it feels like I absorbed more of that ethic than I was aware of.

A successful piece is evocative. I want it to draw you in at different times and for different reasons. I want it to suggest or evoke memories and feelings. These will not likely be the same ones I experience. Perhaps they are but at a more primal level. I spend a lot of time involved in rational thought processes. I want my paintings to pull me out of that for a bit.

Some pieces come so rapidly they seem to emerge unbidden. Others are the result of a more laborious birthing process. "How do you know when it's done?" Every piece takes on some sort of character as I lay it out. When I approach it I engage in a sort of internal dialog, an iterative process of making a mark, putting in dome color and seeing what it feels like. Through this comes the form and color and motion. This goes on until eventually there is nothing more to say. Then, like any relationship, it's done.

Finally, I'm skeptical that anyone ever actually reads these sorts of things. If you have please step inside, say hello and disabuse me of this notion.

My work is informed by exploration of the natural realm and minor scientific study including geology, botany and physics. I reference physical transformation in natural phenomena, examine humanity's place in natural historical context, and note the marks we leave behind in a new series, "Trace." My work is driven by exploration of my immediate environment.  An urban dweller, I observe both natural processes and the effects of man on his environment. The physical process of the painting resembles some of the forces inherent in natural phenomena. Surface is an all-important element, with a history of surfaces, materials and forces beneath the finished one. Applying layers over months, dripping, pooling, splashing, tilting, and sanding - all are part of a process that reflects my subject matter, be it nature or the marks we leave in the urban landscape.

The forest is my spiritual haven, a personal refuge. It is a peaceful place to relax, walk, meditate, and be with my own thoughts. Silence is found here, until I listen closely and then it becomes alive in its own chorus. My spirit soars as my body restores balance. I feel the weight and presence of the tall, thick trunks that bend as they hit the sky, like guardians that shield me from the world beyond. As sunlight sprinkles through moving leaves far above, it reminds me of the colored light that filters through the clerestory stained glass windows of great churches.

I believe there are many such spaces as these, places that give people peace and clarity and help us remember our innate wellness. These places are where problems become less important, and where we can simply remember the joy of living. I have been thinking about how we are all connected. I believe there is an energy flowing through all things, whether it is rock, tree, sky or human. This belief has led me to reflect upon my choice to paint the forest landscape as an expression of a worldview of joyful interdependence.