Stanislav Bojankov
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Apr 26
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 29
Stanislav Bojankov works with sand, carbon paper and a process he developed himself. His compositions often return to the heart—not as a symbol, but as a structure tied to energy, rhythm, and presence. He paints in a small town in Bulgaria, surrounded by nature and space. His work reflects a mix of cultural memory, instinct, and everyday routine. It’s shaped by history, but made in the moment. He doesn’t over-edit. What stays is what feels right the first time.
Q: You see art as proof of life on a suffering planet. How does that idea shape what happens in your studio?
A: Of course, we cannot do without the political and cultural context in which we live. It is the natural environment in which we develop emotionally and mentally, and we observe ourselves, see the realization of our intellect and talent, as well as the result of our activity. We are very connected to social communication and we cannot do without it. Proof of this was the forced isolation and distancing during the Covid crisis, as well as the difficult way of overcoming emotional and psychological tension and stress, as a consequence of the lack of social context and human love and communication. And now the war in old Europe is further increasing tensions in our civilizational and value spaces. We are used to building, high culture and creativity. The role of the artist in the modern world is to give hope, to harmonize the environment everywhere around us. To evoke good energies, positive sensations and meditativeness. Despite the violence of the tense and anxious social contexts in which our tense and conflict-excited civilization lives. Let's dwell more often on the good feelings, dreams, fantasies... As much as possible...
Q: Why sand and carbon paper? What do these raw materials give you that traditional ones don’t?
A: Sand and charcoal are completely natural materials… I wanted to create without paint, without chemistry and consumables. Which is not entirely possible, though… And of course, with pure intentions. And in connection with the current civilizational context in which we live, with the entire paranoid need for “eco” – in the air, in the soil, in feelings, in our daily lives, in the confused and polluted harmony of our value connections and social communication. Thus, by itself, the purely formal solution appeared in the interpretation of the main compositional element – the heart, sustained entirely in the black and white color spectrum. A kind of black and white metaphor, visualizing time and roads in their extremely endless directions and their unconditional passage into the future. A metaphor for this “here and now”, circling with almost manic constancy around the shape of the heart. The paintings are made using my own technology. The material, as I mentioned above, is sand and black carbon paper, from which, with the help of a special glue, the charcoal is extracted from the paper, and on the principle of monotype, the traces of the artist's brush and drawing are transferred onto the canvas. Something in the style of "action painting"...
Q: What led you to “carbonize” the anatomical heart—and what does that image mean to you now?
A: Yes, this is the metaphor – "carbonization" of the gesture of the artist, who improvises on the shape of the anatomical heart. The philosophical meaning is the "carbonization" of the heart, as a symbol containing the entire range of human feelings and emotions. It is a muscle, loaded not only with physical and biological existence, a kind of "perpetuum mobile" of civilization. It is the abode of the soul, which contains within itself all the symbols of our spiritual spaces.
Trying to preserve and "sacralize" the heart, in fact, my idea is to "sacralize" life as a supreme human value. The paintings contain the same meaning and eco-message, a story about the "carbonized", exhausted and tired heart, in the context of our "carbonized" and tired civilization, which is constantly losing and has forgotten its values, and above all the love that inhabits the most important muscle – the heart.
Q: Your work is deeply rooted in cultural memory. How do you keep it visually relevant today?
A: Art has always been at the top of the pyramid of values. The artifacts left by countless creative generations, carrying all the love, emotions, and meaning for themselves, are the basis of our value accumulations. I live in a beautiful province south of Sofia. Bulgaria is very endowed with natural resources and beauty – with mountains and the sea. Throughout its history, it has been at the crossroads of different civilizations, starting with primitive societies, cave art and the Neolithic, passing through the ancient Greek era and the Thracian civilization, the Roman Empire, the Orthodox Byzantium, the Ottoman civilization and the Orient. Thanks to these cultures, a historical, intellectual, religious and mythological background of peculiar archetypes has been created, which is unique in its radiance and messages. My attempts are related to giving an understanding, to be in modernity, using the codes of my traditional cultural layers and roots – a personal cultural DNA, and through them to be “contemporary” and relevant in my messages in a global aspect. The current state of visual forms is characterized by a special “hybridity” that cannot be defined – without dominant styles, without trends, or with countless such, with many and various technological techniques, multimedia, basic conceptuality.
This is a huge ocean of values and pseudo-values in which an artist can very easily drown if he is not sure of both his messages and the depths of his own cultural layers and his existential reasons to search right there – “with himself”. Both his inspirations and his meaning as an artist. This is the more honest path. And through this personal filter to be global and contemporary in our common “puzzle” of values…
Q: With hundreds of exhibitions behind you, how do you stay personally connected to your practice?
A: Actually, I have been a freelancer my whole life. I work daily in my studio, this pays my bills. I draw, read books, poetry, listen to a lot of different music – mostly jazz, classical and ethno-world, and this is the intellectual background of the creative process. Without my studio I feel nervous and often dissatisfied, because I miss the magic of this ritual of self-expression and self-knowledge…
And this is a special “hunger” and “addiction”, without which our work is doomed… And my studio is full of sounds… Many sounds that charge me, inspire me and provide a background for sensations. The city is small and quiet. I get up early in the morning, walk, drink coffee in one of the city cafes, get ready for work, plan tasks, and then go to the studio. In the afternoon I again tour the city, the cafes, and return to the studio again, work with the camera and the computer too… I think best on my bicycle. And I usually don't fix my works – I like them to turn out the first time, to retain their initial impulses and moods embedded in the gesture. In the same way that a jazz musician improvises on his score, without fear of failure, following his momentary intuitions and sensations. They are the most sincere and close to nature... Usually the themes themselves appear somewhere "inside" the process. I just let them lead me and "insert" them into certain materials and technology. You could say that I am an "intuitive" type of artist, for whom spontaneity is the main energy and tool of creativity.
I have a lot of space around me – this is one of the advantages of living in the countryside – a graphic studio, a painting studio, a yard with plants and trees, closeness to nature and the symphony of the morning songs of the early birds... Romantic, isn't it? Of course, it also has its drawbacks, the distance from megacities and the cultural and social life of big cities. There is also a lack of contact with colleagues, with the guild... I travel sometimes, to big cities and cultural centers. My work brings me into contact with gallery owners, collectors. The development of online galleries around the world, which have shortened the path of art and communication in our field, has been of great benefit in the last decade. The art market has shifted to the Internet, and exists independently of physical galleries. When I think about it, I have my works on all continents – and the most remote destinations such as New Zealand, Australia, countries in South America, the USA, Asia – China, Singapore, Malaysia... Most recently in Macau... You can communicate with your collectors anywhere, and in real time... The art world has changed a lot in recent years, and this is a good solution for us, the artists, and for those who love and buy art around the world.
Q: You’ve said art doesn’t allow dishonesty. How do you stay true in a world full of trends?
A: Our main work is with ourselves – self-knowledge in the process of creation, ennobled by the good energies, which are the most important tool of the artist. "Making" art is a special and difficult activity, connected with the most intimate spiritual and intellectual vibrations, and requires special dedication and conviction. It gives, in its own specific way, a kind of personal freedom to people who have dedicated themselves to creating. An area in which one cannot afford to be insincere, dishonest, cannot be bad, lie and speculate with emotions and ideas. This is always visible and seeps through the form and analysis, no matter how well it is hidden.
The pressure is mainly from the commercialism of the times in which we live. Of course, the artist must be able to command himself, to refuse orders sometimes, to have self-discipline. And these are things that are built gradually. In itself, art has long ceased to be what we once called it. Looking at it from the current perspective, and not only because of the enormous possibilities and the "ease" and accessibility of new technologies, but also because of the digitalization of our entire daily life, way of life and existence, a person can very easily "slip" towards a pseudo "contemporary" approach and lose themselves and their root causes in the processes of creation, which, in any case, remain "magical" and "mystical" – a kind of spiritual practices and self-awareness... They have been like that since the very beginning – with the primitive artists of the caves.
