Artist of the Week - Vassilina Dikidjieva

Vassilina Dikidjieva, in her own words: Construction – deconstruction, ancient – contemporary, past – present...My artworks are links of my architectural fascination with cultural heritage and contemporary art. I am also attracted by the big cities and New York has been constant inspiration for me since my arrival here from Ethiopia in 1999.

Since 2017, I embraced printmaking and attended workshops to learn etching, mono-prints, lithography and woodcut prints. These techniques allow me to revisit with increased clarity and intensity ancient symbols, elements, iconic images in the context of current hot topics and tragedies including but not limited to cultural heritage, art history, destruction of cities and nature, wars and genocide, terrorism, migrations.

I also use digital photography to address the brave new world of fast-changing boundaries between public and private spaces where the camera becomes preferred medium for which I invented the terms “Self-Expressionism” and “Selfie-Xpressionism”. In 2016, I was one of the winners in the 31st Chelsea International Fine Art Competition in which I participated with photo installations such as “Brexit” and “Grexit-Runaway Caryatid”. They became part of series of installations and photographs in which I explore contemporary themes and events.

The images below are video stills, taken from Vassilina's videos. Click the image to view the video on youtube. You may also visit Vassilins's website at https://www.vassilinadikidjieva.com, and her youtube channel at: VASSI D