Silvena Toncheva
Mermaid with Forget Me Nots
About
British Naïve Artist Silvena draws inspiration from mythology, symbolism, fairy-tales and presents her characters in an iconic way. Most of her artworks are related to spirituality and represent an escape to an imaginary world filled with colour and emotion.
Silvena has been painting all her life as an expression of her inner self. She was five years old when her mum first showed her how to paint mermaids and they became constant character in a lot of her artworks. She finds dark beauty in these magical creatures and being in love with literature for a lifetime she uses a lot of symbols to convey meaning. In her painting every single colour, texture, object, shadow, line have a particular purpose and signify an important moment in the development of the story.
Her primary media is a special type of water-colour called ‘honey water-colour’ which has extremely bright pigmentation but also allows her build up structure (layering). She also uses it in untraditional way – painting with watercolours in a method you would normally use for oils or acrylics. Recently she has re-discovered the painting with oil. She thinks the canvas painted with oil feels like it has an existence of its own, it is as variable as liquid and thus is in a way symbolic door to eternity.
Past exhibitions:
LSA Art Room Winter Exhibition 2022 | 15th Dec – 5th Feb
UK Artists Annual Exhibition 2020 | 1st Sept – 20th Sept 2020
Rugby Open 2019 | 23rd Nov 2019 – 11th Jan 2020
Temperance Art In The Cafe Exhibition 2019 | 29th July – 31st Aug 2019
UK Artists Annual Exhibition | 8th Jun – 20th Jun 2019
Temperance Open | 29th Apr – 1st Jun 2019
Rugby Open 2018 | 17th Nov 2018 – 12th Jan 2019
Leamington Art Gallery WOS 2018 | 8th Jul
My Dark Companion Solo Exhibition | Floor One Gallery, Rugby | 30 Dec 2017 – 11th Jan 2018
Rugby Open 2017 | 10th – 23rd Dec
Leamington Studio Artists Exhibition 2017 | 6th -19th Sep
Association of Midlands Artists Exhi
Contact: silvena.toncheva@gmail.com
Website: https://silvena.co.uk/
Ode To The Apple Eaters
Honey Watercolour on Paper
175mmX250mm
Framed
This painting was selected to be featured at ‘Rugby Open’ 2016 – an exhibition showcasing the best art from the region. An article about it was published in the Leamington Courier.
Omen
Honey Watercolour on Paper
67x67mm
Framed
This painting is about a mermaid who is an Oracle who sees the past, present and future. Her fish companion gives her access to her 3rd eye.
Attention To Detail
Honey Watercolour on Paper
67x67mm
Framed
This painting was selected for and exhibited at the Rugby Open 2019, an annual exhibition showcasing the best of Midland’s arts. In symbolic terms red is the warm colour of blood and life. It’s associated with aggression, vitality and strength, with fire and the fight between life and death. Red is also linked with sacrifice in some cultures. (Dictionary of Symbols, Hans Biederman)
Colourful Min
Honey Watercolour on Paper
67x67mm
Framed
Blackbird Queen
Honey Watercolour on Arches Aquarelle Paper
360x510mm
Framed
In this painting I’ve incorporated some traditional folklore elements that are associated with festivity, dancing celebrations and good harvest. Normally farmers would create scarecrows to protect the grapes from the blackbirds. However in my painting, human and nature are synchronised in a peaceful embrace.
Girl Like The Sun
Mixed Media on Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper
300mmX400mm
Framed
In Bulgarian folklore an often emerging character are the so-called ‘Sun Girls’. Their title is more reflection of their inner beauty – they are all hard-working, kind and generous. They ‘turn to gold’ anything they touch – more in the sense that they are very skilled and can make the best of any material or situation.
Dream With A Spotted Rabbit
Honey Watercolour on Paper
177x254mm
Unframed
I’ve painted an Easter rabbit with Dalmatian pattern sleeping blissfully next to a fairy in a field filled with forget-me-nots. I hope whoever gives a home to this painting would feel as light and bright as the emotion I’ve put in it. The rabbit is a ‘lunar animal’. Just like the dark spots (lat.mare) of the moon were likened to skipping rabbit.
Kuker
Mixed Media on Hahnemuhle 300gsm Paper (Hot Pressed)
210x297mm
Framed
Inspired from the Bulgarian ‘Bizzare Festival of Monsters‘. A centuries old tradition for the men of the village is to dress as scary creatures and perform loud and threatening dances in order to scare away the evil spirits. I am still utterly fascinated by the concept that to scare away something horrible you have to transform into something even more terrifying (hopefully just on the outside). Women were not allowed to take part in the past, however in modern days this tradition is changing.
Stronger Than This
Mixed Media on Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper
300mmX400mm
Framed
The bat, the moon and the night presented as dark and menacing forces, as opposed to the sun in the girl’s hair and the little rainbow charm on her hand. The shield and the mask as physical and psychological protection, a barrier to the threats of the outside world. The mask hanging on a string signifies the fragility of the emotional balance in the current state of affairs. The emptiness of her eyes show dealing with difficult mental situation but also a determination. The anchor as a long-recognised symbol of hope and the 1984 written on the shield pointing to the so-called George Orwell’s novel. The moon has a dual symbolic meaning here as she’s also forming like a halo above the character’s head.
Spectre Embrace
Honey Watercolour on Arches Aquarelle Paper*
360x510mm
Unframed
This painting was provoked by a nightmare I had. Trying to rationalise it, that was probably caused by missing a close relative. I remember I was scared and just as I tried hugging them, they disappeared. The dark shadow on the background is the menacing feeling that was overtaking me; the purple-pink spectre in the middle is the spirit of that person that I was searching for. It’s emerging from a phone as this is my only connection with them most of the time. Opposite to what it may look like, the arched cat is my companion Shadow who’s on my side and has probably also felt the disturbance.
Towards The Light
Mixed Media on Paper
175x250mm
Framed
The mermaid is a symbol of the recurring cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Just as life comes from the sea, in many world mythologies, so death is a return to the sea’s embrace.
Aysha’s Familiar
Oil on Canvas 410x250mm Framed
The name Aysha means ‘Woman.Life.’ This Naive Art painting has similar visual aura to my other artwork ‘Madonna With a Black Cat’.
The Association of British Naïve Artists,
c/o Noah’s Ark,
Abbey Place, Mousehole,
Cornwall, TR19 6PQ
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