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In his stone sculpture he works with very simple shapes and massive volumes, and there are always curvilinear, rounded or spherical forms in his work. In some of his sculptures the balancing forms are iconic and have a dynamic energy and force. He also works in metal, producing welded steel and coloured works which are light and airy and more playful.
Petrov was born in Bulgaria in 1967. He received a BA in 1996 and MA in 1998 in sculpture from the National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia. He also has a PhD in Art History from the Fine Art Academy in Sofia, received in 2007.
For the Belize symposium he came with a concept, but he needed to study the actual stone for inspiration. He wanted to express the best qualities of the limestone he received and expose its character to reveal the nature of the stone. Thus he left much of it rough to show its natural state from the quarry. He said “inside is the soul of the stone.” He likes the structure, colour and shape of this particular limestone. For him, it has a beautiful colour with rich veined markings and has a quality between limestone and marble. In his work he has left the imperfections and blemishes of the stone evident.
Petrov wanted to maintain the nature of the stone, its weight and heft. He has produced an installation of two huge blocks cutting away only angles at some of the corners and leaving the rest mostly uncut. Though not actually connected, the angles are perfectly aligned from one side of the stone to the other. On one of the stones these edges can be linked up by the viewer to imply a perfect rhomboid structure embedded in the stone, as though emerging from it. Petrov has sought out the inside shape, to reveal the soul and spirit of the stone. The angles are sharply defined, exceptionally finely
polished and smoothly finished. Some parts of the surface are entirely untouched and he has left the drill holes which were made when the stone was quarried, untouched. There is a bold and stark contrast between rough and smooth surfaces. On some of the straight rough sides he made shallow striated cuts of flowing organic linear marks. The work is titled Communication and suggests a will to evoke a common understanding. The two stones sit opposite one another, with the negative space between them carefully considered. There is the tension of an implied relationship between them in this elegant, minimal and austere design.
Photos © petrov
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