Two young authors are launching an exhibition dedicated to animals that throws a bridge between scientific illustrations and figurines. Illustrator Milena Radeva and sculptor Ilia Boyarov are presenting their Animalia as a 3D encyclopedia of 25 scientific illustrations and 22 animal miniatures made of bronze.

“We decided to take this dialogue between water colour and bronze on the road and show it in other towns outside Sofia, because we believe that what may, at first glance, seem an odd bond between these larger-than-standard illustrations and small-sized realistic sculptures will offer each visitor something special,” says Milena Radeva, author of the illustrations. Milena has graduated “Books and Prints” at the National Art Academy and has been working as an illustrator since her time as a student. In that time she has had a number of successes – she has illustrated books released in USA, Australia, Norway, Great Britain, Singapore and Sofia.

“We started working on this exhibition in March 2014. The idea belongs to Ilia Boyarov. For both of us this is a project that triggered new emotions and challenges. The works I present at the exhibition draw a fine line between art and science. I endeavoured to break away from strictly scientific illustrations, so we decided to be as true to the animals we are depicting as we can. At the same time we wanted to make our works artistic. We look at animals from different angles, we show them in motion or with some peculiarity people are not really aware they possess. To prepare for the exhibition we had to research dozens of science books, see films and photographs of animals. That was the hardest part – we are not zoologists, we have never worked in this sphere and we wanted our work to be as true-to-life as possible instead of coming up with something that simply does not exist. Animalia has so far been presented in 10 towns nationally and has been enthusiastically acclaimed. This month we are staring work on our next project together that will be called Animalia Aves – Bulgaria’s Endangered Species. Most people have just heard there are endangered species, what we would like to do is show them to the public – what they look like, how they live and why they are endangered. That is our aim – to show them so that we and the public may get to know more about them. We are currently doing our research and we are looking for financial support for the endeavor because the first exhibition we mounted hung entirely on our own enthusiasm and the help of friends, but we encountered many difficulties as well,” says Milena Radeva.

Ilia Boyarov’s bronze figurines of, for example, a white cat and a white horse, evoked the admiration of the public. He knows and makes use of all of the properties of metal to lend colour and hue to his animal sculptures. He has put a magnifying glass next to his works because it is the miniature details that are a show of real class. Ilia Boyarov has also graduated the National Art Academy. He says he is a sculptor by training and by vocation and currently teaches at the school of applied arts in Sofia.

“The message I want to convey with Animalia is addressed to us, humans – to help us take a good look at everything surrounding us rather than concentrating on the material world. To try and approach our own, human nature by bonding with Nature. The world all around is conveying messages of beauty, all we have to do is discover them,” says sculptor Ilia Boyarov.

English version: Milena Daynova