A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ICON ARTIST

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ICON ARTIST

Dr. Ksenia Kisselincheva

“Touching beauty through art makes life worth living”

Airports have always had a special fascination for me - the roaring of planes coming and going, the sense of vast open spaces, so close to a big city, the people hugging each other on arrival or parting. And the seductive lulling voice of the announcer which gives an urge to visit as soon as possible all those far away, unknown destinations: Casablanca, Helsinki, Osaka, Adelaide...

I first met Iskra Vlasseva on a long summer afternoon at Sofia airport. We were both exasperated with the long delay of the Stockholm flight and we were both trying to cool down on the spacious verandah, overlooking the runways. She was all in white, with only a green-blue splash of paper flowers on the wide-brimmed hat and I was captivated by the exquisite ceramic locket she was wearing. It was in the shape of a miniature Virgin Mary and later I found out it was her own work and she attributed to it the magic power of a talisman... She had immediately spotted my passion for icons a few minutes earlier at the souvenir shop and she proposed to me to take me to her private gallery in the VIP area. While we were going down the stairs past the restaurant and out of the departure lounge towards the VIP area, I explained to her I was looking to buy an icon as a wedding present for a friendly couple. Moreover, my friend Niels was a professor in history of art at Stockholm University and his home was cluttered with art objects and antiques. When he came to Sofia he always discovered new items to add to his collection.

I had a good look around the small gallery while my new acquaintance went to get some coffee. I had almost made up my mind to buy not an exact copy, but” an author’s icon” whose phosphorescent green and blue colors gave me a transient sense of airiness and elation. At that moment she came back with a coffee tray and we had only another ten minutes before rushing to the arrivals lounge...

But we exchanged name cards. A few days later I paid her a visit at her studio at the 8-th floor of a recently built apartment house near the Zografsky hotel in Losenetz. This time I had my recording machine with me and a bottle of white wine and I was keen on learning much more about her and her life. While we were sipping wine, laughing and chatting, I was struck by Iskra’s resemblance to Lady Di and I was tempted to ask her whether she subscribed to the overwhelming trend of nurturing modern idols out of celebrities. She said she did not need to idealize human beings, no matter how distinguished they were, and she realized these modern myths were the result of well orchestrated media and public relations campaigns. “But, still” - she added - “Lady Di obviously had something special about her personality which made her so much loved and admired”.

“Iskra Vlasseva, a free lance artist, the manager and owner of ”Deisis” gallery, as the business card describes her. But certainly there must be more to it.

And we go back in time to her childhood memories from Sierra Leone, Africa, where her dad was on a trade mission for a couple of years. Was it then that she was mesmerized by those intense and sparkling colors that recurred in her paintings on wood, pebble stone or canvas? She would never forget the huge kites she used to fly in the sky, the graceful figures with bundles and trays on their heads that walked as if dancing, the aroma of fragrant herbs and exotic spices floating out of the kitchen window. And she would never forget the long walks at sunset, when the beach was spattered with seaweed, shells and logs. And later when she traveled all over Europe she never felt a stranger and she made friends everywhere. She adored the exhilarating sense of discovery... She has been drawing and painting as far back as she could remember. She started learning how to do modeling at the age of twelve. Then she studied ceramics with the Petya Panayotova, one of the household names in the field. Then she started doing the advertising of the students’ town-she liked the job and stayed with it for more than fifteen years. There she met Roumiana and they shared their love for icon painting. They worked side by side, they admired and criticized each other.

And in 1990 they embarked on another adventure. They opened their own private gallery. “Deisis” gallery, named after the famous icon from the Bachkovo monastery, was not situated on a major thoroughfare, it was in the students’ town but still it attracted people of all ages. The blond Iskra and the dark-haired Roumy shared not only enthusiasm for their enterprise but they shared a vision. They wanted to give young talents a chance to find themselves - they were open to different styles and techniques, no matter what their personal preferences were. For instance, Boris Kolev, who is now greatly appreciated throughout Europe, had his first individual exhibition at “Deisis” gallery. Blagovest Apostolov is another more mature artist who was associated with the “Deisis” gallery and whose work is greatly admired abroad. They attracted a few more male artists to their experimental workshop, they inspired and helped each other, they fought together in court against the landlords, they dreamed together...

How were sales going? Iskra says they have been going well since the very start-they had lots of pictures and icons sold abroad. Also they had art events organized which were so popular that the gallery couldn’t hold all the visitors and they had to stand outside. Iskra wanted to tell me about one of these events. “The common topic was about sin and sinfulness - actors, artists and musicians got together and expressed their feelings and ideas about the topic through their specific medium. It turned into an avant‑garde happening and we sang and danced all night. And at the following art fest there were crowds of people, all wishing to get in and take part. Such instants of touching beauty through art make life worth living...”

Apart from all that, the gallery is a place where laymen get introduced to the know-how of art, they come and consult Iskra and Roumy about details and nuances. This inspired them to organize courses once a week for amateur artists, young and old. The students were all very keen, very eager to learn. The lady teachers just helped them find their own theme and style, find their own medium and technique. At a later stage, they would show the students how to develop and master the technique.  There were a variety of courses organized- in graphics, illustration, ceramics, painting. The longest one was in icon painting. And now after the gallery moved to the airport in 1996, the courses still take place at Iskra’s studio. There were a few traces from the latest teaching session when I got to the studio-the pervading smell of oils, the brushes, stuck in a jar of water, the preliminary sketches scattered around the floor...

Iskra had just got back from a plein‑air event, organized in the Rodopi mountains.

She was telling me about the strange cross-like signs on trees and stones in “the Crucifix forest” where they witnessed a minor miracle-their fire kindled of itself. The more skeptical companions of hers found a logical explanation for “the miracle” but they were all under the magic spell of this holy place and gazed at the huge stars well into the night, unable to go to sleep...

Plein‑air events have been a regular practice of Deisis gallery ever since 1992. The first one took place in the Srebarna nature reservation, near the Danube River. It was sponsored by a newly formed party. It turned out to be one the most memorable events in Iskra’s life and she was eager to tell me about it: “While we were strolling among flowery bushes, a pheasant would suddenly run across the path, a hare would ruffle the undergrowth, a wild grouse would dip into the pond, frowning its smooth surface with tiny ripples. The exhibition was arranged in a shelter, paintings hanging among lianas and branches from the flowery bushes. Finally, the artists rose and sang a patriotic song for the sponsors and everybody was so surprised and touched. After that we danced well into the night and did not go to bed until we could watch the sunrise...”  Other such events followed every year - at the seaside near Sozopol, or in the mountain, like the plein air on icon painting at the Troyan monastery. There was an award fund and prizes were given. The people from a nearby village managed to raise money and donated to the monastery one of the awarded icons.

Since the gallery moved to the airport, Iskra had more time for herself, exploring new materials and new techniques. She did a lot of painting on wooden logs and river pebbles and tried to achieve more elaborate designs with more figures and more expressive of motion. She explored transparent colors which seem to express best her idea of spirituality. She prefers to make copies of older icons, as far back as the 14-th century and she prefers the Bulgarian tradition to the Greek one, because it is informed by human vibrations and it emanates hope and trust. The Greek technique is more stiff and aloof. Iskra is telling me of how her life spins round her visions in color and shape, how it shuttles back and forth between the family, the studio and the gallery. During the summer break, travel and friends take up most of her time - she hoards impressions and makes plans about the future. She likes to share her projects with her friends, to discuss things with them and to take their advice. She thinks there is beauty and magic, not only in art but in human relations. I am skeptical to such an attitude, in view of the many disappointments and betrayals we have all experienced, but Iskra is incorrigible, she wouldn’t stop hoping and believing. And she looks for support in transcendental writings and supernatural events. They get together in her studio once a week and discuss their own experiences or what they have read in Paco Raban’s book or in Shirley McLaine’s. And when they leave late at night, Iskra tiptoes to her easel and canvas and tries to render in color her palpable perception of the unseen spiritual world .These are intense, luminous colors, which remind her of the huge kites from her childhood days in Africa. She would never forget that ecstatic feeling of being closer to God...                                 

Sofia Western News monthly, 1998 

EUGENE O’NEILL: GRAND MASTER OF MONOLOGUE IN AMERICAN DRAMA

Dr. Ksenia Kisselincheva

It is not an exaggeration that Eugene O’Neill is called “the grand master of American drama”. There is an auspicious detail in his biography. He was born in a hotel room on Broadway (where Times Square is now). The inscription on the memorial plate says: “Eugene O’Neill, 1888‑1953, America’s greatest playwright was born on this site…”.

I am going to speak more specifically of Eugene O’Neill’s contribution to monologue usage as well as about some parallels, showing the impact of Eugene O’Neill on successive generations of American and other English‑speaking playwrights.

Let me start with a general description of monologue as an expressive means in modern drama.

On the whole the role of monologue is overshadowed by the lively stage action and dialogue. It is not always thought of as indispensable for the dramatic mode. But, actually, monologue has its legitimate place and specific functions in the expressive arsenal of the theater. It is not accidental that the convention of monologue is present in the major stages from the evolution of the dramatic art. It has an especially respectful stature in ancient Greek, Renaissance, Restoration and Romantic theater.

The expansive experimentation with the expressive potential of the monologue mode in modern western drama is undoubtedly related to the inner psychological dimension of the conflict as a source of dramatic tension. There is hardly another means of expression which is better suited to give a more direct expression of the invisible inner drama as well as a more intimate penetration into it. The monologue is shedding bright light on the inner world of the dramatic characters. It follows in a retrospective or introspective point of view the modulations of the individual psycho-gram. The monologue gives the freedom to make a breakthrough in the socially ritualized framework of dialogue and action, giving an access to the innermost intimate layers in the soul of the character. They are deeply hidden and represent an universe of feelings, passions, thoughts, dreams and moods.

The monologue does not in the least infringe itself the perimeter of the dialogue. On the contrary, they only complement each other, stand in counterpoint to each other or merge one into another. The transitions might be marked down by a stage direction. The dialogic mode prevails whenever the dramatis personae aim at having an impact on one another. In contrast, the monologic mode takes the upper hand whenever the character appears to forget about other people’s presence and starts thinking aloud, or having a conversation with himself.

Alongside with the multi-dimensional self‑revelation of the characters, monologue performs other specific functions within the dramatic texture. It expands the scope of presentation in time and space. More specifically, it can render the imaginary journey of characters in the past and the future. It can also suggest indirectly of off‑the‑stage reality which has some relevance to the action. Another function the monologue can predict the future development of the action. Apart from this, the monologue often may give a compressed expression of the author’s message and attitude.

In the seemingly static plays of the modern theater which do not rely so much on the well-made plot, the monologic peaks shape up the highlights of the dramatic parabola. And last, but not least, the dimension of the monologue contributes significantly to creating a poetic atmosphere, making for the more convincing impact of the stylized dramatic reality. 

For the purpose of analysis of the drama a number of typological variants of monologue can be distinguished, depending on its content, like: monologue‑commentary, monologue‑confession, monologue-reckoning, monologue‑sermon, monologue‑climax, monologue‑message of the author. Such a typological division can only be provisional since in the vibrant dramatic texture these types of monologue never occur in pure form. They intercross and superimpose one upon another. But yet one of them might be assumed as defining shape of the monologue deviation from the flux of the dialogue.

I attempt at shedding light on the various types of monologue in contemporary American drama within a historical comparative perspective. The starting point of the study will be the late dramaturgy of Eugene O’Neill. Therein the prototypes of this ever productive trend in North American drama are contained. He manages to employ in full measure the expressive might of the monologue, creatively transforming and enriching what has been achieved before him by Ibsen, Strindberg and Checkov. In many aspects Eugene O’Neill turns into an inspiring model for the next generations of English speaking playwrights.

The slant towards using monologue prevails especially in his late plays, written on the eve and during World War 2. These monologues are, in one way or another, variations of the tragic and some time tragicomic discrepancy between reality and dream: a leitmotif running not only throughout Eugene O’Neill’s body of work. This eternally insolvable contradiction remains predominant throughout most of modern theater after Ibsen.

In “A Touch of a Poet” (1936) this discrepancy is projected in a number of soul self-revelations which take the shape of a confession or a reckoning. The ambivalent vision of the complex correlation between reality and illusions is emphasized in the ironic twists, paradoxes and grotesques. They are born out of the collision between the dialogic and monologue of the characters. The final monologue of the main hero Cornelius Melody marks the culmination point of his inner conflict. He makes a sincere and impartial reckoning of his life and comes to realize his delusive pretensions to return to real genuine love. Illusions are presented as destructive for the character’s personality and it is only through their painful realization, there is a chance for his rebirth and salvation. This treatment of the subject relates to a similar treatment in Ibsen’s “Doll’s House”.

Conversely, illusions are treated differently in “The Iceman Cometh” (1939). Therein they turn into the necessary protection of the characters against the insupportable reality. This is in tune with the treatment in Ibsen’s “The Wild Duck”. Both masters of modern drama are rather attracted by the manyfold embodiment of the human condition rather than by looking for one-sided solutions.

“Long Day’s Journey into Night” (1941) is considered a crowning achievement of O”Neill’s mastery. This static play could also be looked at as the author’s vision of the Eugene O’Neill’s own family fate. The monologues here are a journey from the present into the past, from the seeming to the essential, from illusions to crude reality. The mental conflict and its evolution find an exquisite expression in the sonata‑like transition of dialogue and monologue, presented at times in counterpoint contrast, at times - overlapping one into another. In Act Three, the main character Merry Tyrone (whose prototype is Eugene O’Neill’s mother) makes a confession prompting to her return to morphine addiction. This is a way to prepare the audience for the culmination point in Act Four, marked by the parallel confessional monologues of the four Tyrones.

The tragic suggestion of power of fate is further enhanced by other means of expression – audiovisual effects, symbolic configuration, pantomime and dialogue. The monologues turn from a confession into a reckoning of one’s life and reveal new aspects of the author’s point of view.

In “The Iceman Cometh” (1939) the expressive power of various versions of monologue is employed. The action is set in Harry Hope’s pub. He has sheltered a dozen of outsiders. They are eagerly expecting Hickman, a salesman, to celebrate once again Harry Hope’s birthday.  Hickman is known for his sense of humour and his addiction to booze. This time he comes sober and surprisingly he preaches the rejection of pipe dreams, which give meaning to the life of each and every one of the characters.

In a monologue-sermon in Act II, Hickman persuades them persistently that in order to find peace and happiness, they have to reject their illusions. The result of the “new religion” is that the characters are shocked and confused; they become aggressive to each other. The escalating underneath tension reaches its climax in the monologue self‑confession of Hickman in Act IV where Hickman admits to having killed his wife. Thus the monologue turns into a monologue-reckoning.

The fate of Parrit, another key character in the play, also follows the tragic pattern of crime and punishment. His final monologue-confession also turns into a painful reckoning - he has the guts to admit the treachery he has committed to his mother, dooming her to life imprisonment. He has the courage to take his own life ‑ he jumps off the fire escape - the retribution for his crime. This is an illustration of O’Neill’s tragic interpretation of the individual conflicts of the main characters - crime, pangs of conscience and retribution. The rest of the characters are too weak to face the horrible truth and they revert to their life sustaining pipe‑dreams.

This shocking outcome has been prepared by the implications of the dialogue, saturated with images of death. 

It was shown how tragic self-awareness inevitably leads to atonement. The monologues of Hickman and Parrit turn from a confession into a hard reckoning – they also signal the shocking denouement of their individual dramas.

“A Moon for the Misbegotten” (1943) is also connected to O’Neill’s family saga, which is rendered in a wider scope in “Long Day’s Journey into Night”. The main character is modeled after ONeill’s elder brother. One of the plot lines revolves around his unfulfilled love with the farmer’s daughter Josy. The inner conflict of both characters is projected in a counterpoint between the protective masks of their dialogue and the self-revelation of their monologues in Act IV. The melodramatic treatment is finely balanced by the tragicomic treatment - grotesque and farcical distortions alternate with ironic ambiguity.

If we turn to the impact of O’Neill on successive playwrights in American drama, there are striking parallels   between the late plays of O’Neill and some plays by Tennessee Williams.

The strong influence of O’Neill on the formation of Williams’ creative personality has been recurrently underlined by critics. Indeed among the playwrights of the postwar generation, T. Williams is closest in his disposition to the patriarch of native American theater. The line of continuity is quite perceptible, without verging on sheer imitation. There are many parallels to be traced between “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and “The Glass Menagerie” of Williams. Both plays are family dramas with a strong autobiographical touch where the past and the present oscillate between each other, embodying in a polyphonic manner the leitmotif of human hopes and failures. Also, the monologue plays a dominant part in both plays which is partially determined by the contemplative confessional vein of the content. Tom Wingfield, the main character in “The Glass Menagerie” is simultaneously a commentator and a participant in the action. In his address to the audience, he comments, analyses and shares his innermost thoughts. A whole range of expressive means is manifested in Tom’s monologue: the innermost core of his personality and his attitude to life is revealed; the narrow scope of the dramatic action is expanded; the future unraveling of the dramatic conflict is hinted at.

The most emotional confession belongs to Tom’s mother, Amanda Wingfield, in scene six, where she shares with her children her nostalgia for her lost youth, embodied in the   key image of the “daffodils”.  In the romantic idealization of the American South we can grasp Williams’s own nostalgia for the refined aristocratic culture of his native South, which is crumbling under the onslaught of the arrogant and upstart business of the North.

The end of the play is crowned by the monologue of Tom who expresses his revolt against the omniscient American dream, promoted like a social psychosis. It remains unattainable for millions of ordinary Americans like Tom, facing the menace of the Great depression and the encroaching world war.

The leitmotif of the tyrannical power of the past over the present from “Long Day’s …” is also elaborated in a number of plays by T. Williams. Another parallel between both authors concerns the main source of conflicting tensions. It stems from the clash between desires and fears, faith and betrayal, love of life and the urge to self‑destruction.

This perennial division and clash could be traced in the monologue in “Streetcar Named Desire” (1947). There is a certain ambiguity in the author’s attitude that impairs the tragic treatment. The retrospective effusions of Blanche Dubois echo the way the monologue is used  by O’Neill and Ibsen to give extra dimensions to the situation. The confession of Blanche before Mitch in scene nine marks the culmination of her inner conflict – the shocking revelations of her past inevitably lead to the catastrophic denouement. These revelations repel Mitch, her prospective husband,  and her last hope of some human happiness is crushed.

In “A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1955) the monologue intertwines with the dialogue and successively acquires either the form of a commentary, or a confession, or a sermon. The two main sources of the action are the characters of Maggie, Brick’s wife, and Big Daddy, Brick’s father. Maggie clashes with Kaspar and his wife Mae. They fight fiercely to get hold of the family property while Big Daddy is doomed to die of cancer. Throughout the play they have all been roasting on the fire of greed, hatred and alienation. The monologues are full of these destructive passions. This is another creative similarity between the attitude of both E. O’Neill and T. Williams. Maggie, the Cat, reminds of Abbie Cabot from “Desire Under the Elms” of O’Neill in her consistent calculating strategy. But Maggie is conceived predominantly in a melodramatic mold, she does not acquire the tragic stature of Abbie Cabot.

The delusions of life and of himself lead Willie Loman from “Death of a Salesman” (1949), a play by A. Miller, to a tragic fall from grace. He is reluctant to recognize and admit the false notions of himself and of his sons. This leads him to despair and to the fateful decision to commit suicide in order to give his sons a chance to profit from his life insurance and get a fresh start in business. Arthur Miller also employs expressionistic devices – he introduces in a imaginary way the ghost of Ben, Willie’s deceased brother. Ben’s sermons, tinged with a confessional tone, are actually addressed to Willie’s two sons. In his monologue, Ben stands for the value system of the conquerors of the Wild West.  But his words imply that the other side of individualism and self-reliance are ruthlessness and fraud. There is only a thin boundary between them which can be easily trespassed.  The strong inclination of A. Miller to use monologue and other expressionistic devices could be viewed in the context of his prominent creative reception to the expressionistic mode, found in the plays of the 20’s and 30’s of E. O’Neill and E. Rice.

The most unambiguous example of this trend in Miller’s artistic aspirations is to be found in “After the Fall” (1964). This is an autobiographical monodrama where the ongoing inner monologue is undercut by short dialogic scenes. The imaginary dialogue of the main character Quentin with the allegorical figure of the Listener is an example of using expressionistic devices to render Quentin’s inner drama.

The arena of conflicting clashes is once again the human soul. Its modulations vary from the analytical commentary through confessional insights to a long-suffering reckoning. The counterpoint juxtaposition of dialogue and monologue enhances the ambivalence and fluidity of the various points of view. The problems which flood Quentin’s “stream of consciousness” are more than a few and don’t have any easy solutions. They are projected not only by the textual layer of the play but also by other visual scenic devices – the symbolical setting, light effects, pantomime and stage configurations. After his painful meanderings Quentin comes to realize his personal and his “original sin” and he humbly hopes to achieve expiation through the cleansing elemental power of love.

The creative adoption of the artistic potential of monologue can be traced in other plays of the 60’s of the 20-th century, just to mention  “Two on the Swing” by William Gibson, “ The Typists” by Murray Shisgal and “The Influence of Gamma Rays on the Moon Marigolds” by Paul Zindell. In general, this trend asserts itself as artistically productive throughout the 60’s.

There is a certain crisis and decline in the theater on Broadway. The vibrant formative forces have already shifted to the off-Broadway theater. It is increasingly captivating a wider audience. The avantguarde‑theater is intensely experimental at the time of mass social movements like the Civil Rights movement. There is also an upsurge of underground culture like rock music and the hippies. In this context there arise and thrive the Living theater, the Open theater, the Café theater, happenings, regional theater and students’ theater. The new individual talents arise from this experimental spirit in the arts. For example, the Living Theater brings forth Edward Albee in whose distinctively individual style various elements  blend.

The failure of achieving meaningful communication among people accounts for the prevalence of the monologic mode over the dialogic one in “The Zoo Story“ (1959) of Albee which is his theatrical debut. This is a chamber drama for two actors. It is auspicious coincidence that its first US production took place in Provincetown Playhouse where O’Neill had his debut with “Bound East for Cardiff“ in 1916. This coincidence reminds of a number of profound parallels between “The Zoo Story“ of Albee and “Bound East for Cardiff“ of Eugene O’Neill. Both works are imaginative parables of alienation, inevitably leading to a spiritual impasse. Both main characters here Yank and Jerry perform a soul-searching hara-kiri in their desperate impulse to find their place in the chaos of being. In the context of the analogies, the contrasting differences stand out even better. First of all, the degree of alienation is different with Yank and Jerry. Yank from “East for Cardiff“ makes a death-bed confession before his mate, who responds with love and compassion. In contrast, Jerry from “The Zoo Story“ makes his confession before a stranger Peter in Central Park. This stranger does not want and is totally unable to understand him.  That is why the desired contact in Albee’s play is to be achieved only when Peter and Jerry correlate to each other as an assassin and his victim. Jerry’s monologic tirades imply his failed attempt at dialogue.

The monologic mode goes through a number of variations - from a retrospective introduction into Jerry’s life story it turns into a confession. This confession is finally transfigured into the parable of “the zoo story” where the author’s message is encapsulated. The climax of Jerry’s painful self-revelation is his failed attempt at befriending the neighbor’s dog. In the stage direction of the text, it is explicitly pointed out that the story is told with the presence of the audience in mind. E. Albee intends to get the audience emotionally involved and prepared for the unexpected bloody denouement.

The grotesque hyperbole of the ultimate degree of alienation definitely reminds to us of a similar drastic resolution of the situation in O’Neill’s “The Hairy Ape” (1922). Yank, a ship’s stoker, who has lost his touch with others and the world at large, looks for a final refuge in the zoo. Having lost any hope of relating to the world, this Yank and Jerry from “The Zoo Story“ of Albee find the only escape in death. Yank dies in the mortal embrace of the gorilla in the zoo, while Jerry prods himself onto the knife, held in self-defense by Peter. In “The Zoo Story “ the dialogic exchange starts formally, then goes through the monologic failure in communication and ends in a menacing confrontation.

The motif of the crisis in human relations is at the center of Albee’s next play “Who is Afraid of Virginia Wolf” (1961). As far as its structure is concerned, it follows the rhythm of a carnival ritual. The carefree gaiety of the games in Act One grows into a Walpurgis unbridledness in Act Two and ends in expiation and exorcism in Act Three. The psychological dramatic tension of this seemingly static play is charged by two sources - the understatement of the dialogic crossfire and the tidal wave of the monologic explosion.

The male characters, George and Nick are both lecturers in a small New England college. They impersonate two different intellectual and moral attitudes, which are put to the test in their confrontation. In his monologic sermon in Act II, George stigmatizes knowledge devoid of moral principles which intervenes into nature’s secrets in a purely rational manner. E. Albee’s own predilections can be glimpsed in this inspired lecture, the author is definitely siding with George, the old-fashioned moralizer.

Martha, his wife, has a retrospective speech which is immediately juxtaposed to George’s sermon. Her life story reveals her own philosophy – we can glimpse where her deep abhorrence for her husband stems from. This initial antagonism between them predetermines the rising conflict between them. They endorse contrasting attitudes to the American Dream. Martha has imbibed her attitude from her rich and successful father. The relations between husband and wife are built after Strindberg’s model – the battle between the two sexes is a ferocious battle for overpowering and submitting your partner, so love turns easily to hatred. The Walpurgis Night leads to a running high of passions, to provocations and deviations which sweep away any propriety in the dialogue. The parallel monologic projections of Nick and George rise to the stature of a poetic message, expressing Albee’s ironic  attitude to the pilgrims of the American dream. The painful shaking off of big and small illusions is the only chance for the characters to find a way back and to relate to each other in a meaningful way. This complex interpretation of Albee’s relates him to the tradition of O’Neill, Williams and Miller.

The monologic device takes a key place in Albee’s drama in the 60’s and 70’s of the 20^th century which is strongly impacted by the European theater of the absurd (S. Beckett, H. Pinter). But E. Albee, similarly to O’Neill, does not adopt the posture of despair and helplessness before the absurdity of the human condition. They assert the possibility to confront reality and to resist it by making a choice of positive values, which can give meaning and dignity to individual life.

The shifts in the thematic and stylistic nature of the monologue in American theater from the last quarter of the 20^th century reflect a certain trend of shoving off from the realistic and naturalistic tradition, associated with the work of O’Neill, Williams and Miller in the direction of the theater of the absurd – S. Beckett, H. Pinter, N. Simpson, E. Bond, etc. Also there is a definite trend to a more extensive involvement of elements from other genres ‑ musical, rock opera, pantomime as well as other arts like cinema, ballet, painting. This is another manifestation that theater, despite the invasion of cinema and the electronic media, has not exhausted the unique impact of its century-old magic.

Academic article in "Tradition and Innovation",  a book, published by Lambert Academic Publishing in September 2018   

МОНОЛОГЪТ В СЪВРЕМЕННАТА АМЕРИКАНСКА ДРАМА, "Литературна мисъл", 1989, кн. 2

МОНОЛОГЪТ В СЪВРЕМЕННАТА АМЕРИКАНСКА ДРАМА, "Литературна мисъл", 1989, кн. 2

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ПРОБЛЕМИ В ДРАМАТУРГИЯТА НА ЮДЖИЙН О'НИЙЛ И ШОН О'КЕЙСИ; А В Т О Р Е Ф Е Р А Т на дисертация за присъждане на научната степен "кандидат на филологическите науки"; 1985

ЕДИНЕН ЦЕНТЪР ЗА ЕЗИК И ЛИТЕРАТУРА
(към Българската академия на науките и Софийския университет "Климент Охридски")

ИНСТИТУТ ЗА ЛИТЕРАТУРА

СЕКЦИЯ ПО СРАВНИТЕЛНО ЛИТЕРАТУРОЗНАНИЕ
______________________________________________________________________________

Ксения Асенова Киселинчева

ПРОБЛЕМИ В ДРАМАТУРГИЯТА НА
ЮДЖИЙН О'НИЙЛ И ШОН О'КЕЙСИ


А В Т О Р Е Ф Е Р А Т
на

дисертация за присъждане на научната степен
"кандидат на филологическите науки"




Научен ръководител:                     Официални рецензенти:
доц.  Григор Павлов                      проф. Любомир Тенев
                                                     доц. к.ф.н. Георги Папанчев




София, 1985

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THE AMERICAN COLLEGE IN SOFIA

THE AMERICAN COLLEGE IN SOFIA

Dr. Ksenia Kisselincheva

Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, after fifty years of oblivion, the College came back to life in the spring of 1991, by conducting an American - style standardized exam and selecting its first batch of students in the post-communist era. In the last seven years, it has reaffirmed its reputation as one of the country’s leading educational institutions, renowned way back from the 30’s to the present, for its commitment to high standards of academic excellence and personal integrity. But let’s step back in time and find out how it all began ...

We can trace back its origins to the schools, founded in the 1860’s by American missionaries - a boys’ school in Plovdiv and a girls’ school in Stara Zagora. In 1871, the two schools were merged and moved to Samokov, the seat of the American council on the Balkans. A large number of the graduates had a sense of mission and dedicated themselves to priesthood, teaching and social work. In 1926, once again, the College was moved this time to Simeonovo, just outside the capital city. It was reestablished on a 100-acre campus at the foothills of the Vitosha Mountain. During the next decade, 19 buildings were built, providing classroom space and housing for most students and faculty members. The College and its new president, Dr. Floyd H. Black, were warmly received by the Bulgarians. The Parliament gave the new school as a grant-in-aid a tract of timber that yielded about 50,000 USD.

Up to the eve of the World War II, a whole network of American schools has been set up across the country, embracing all stages of education from kindergarten to secondary school level. But the American College in Sofia was definitely the jewel in the crown. When World War II broke out, many of its graduates were occupying leadership positions in Bulgarian education, government and the professions.  But, the main driving force behind the flourishing of the college during the years from 1926 to 1942 was its director, Dr. F. H. Black. Untiringly, he attended to everything and everyone - the real estate, the curriculum, the teaching staff and administration. He would listen carefully to anyone, irrespective of his position in the hierarchy and he would act as troubleshooter to any problem or crisis, having arisen.

But the fate of the college was inevitably to be molded and twisted by sweeping historical forces. After Bulgaria, under Nazi insistent urge, declared war on the United States in 1941, the American faculty members were advised by the Bulgarian government to continue with their activities. Nevertheless,  in spite of the heroic efforts on the part of Dr. F. H. Black, the staff and the students to keep the college going during those turbulent years, an order of the Ministry of Education, issued in  August 1942 delivered the final blow to it all. The Nazi commander-in-chief in Sofia imperatively demanded from the Bulgarian government to close the college down.

The final farewell scene took place at a suburban railway station in September 1942. I was told this moving story by a witness, an ex-university teacher of mine, who rushed to the station together with other college alumni to bid farewell to their beloved American teachers, woefully forced out of the country. After an avalanche of interrupted confessions, sticky handshakes and bouquets of flowers, the train started pulling out of the station on its way to Istanbul and then suddenly ... all the students, huddled on the platform started singing the College hymn and then took up other songs.  Their voices grew stronger as the train was receding out of sight; they were fighting their tears back and kept on singing well after the train was no longer seen.

The indomitable spirit, instilled in their young hearts helped them to endure during the post-war years, when the Communist government seized the assets of the American College and subjected its associates to systematic persecution. Some of them were sentenced to death, others were sent to labor concentration camps and most of them were persistently denied jobs and opportunities. But they did not give up and not only endured but prevailed. The memory of the College could not be obliterated; it kept on shining through in various ways. The ex-college graduates were indispensable when it came to compiling dictionaries, translation of classic and modern books, translation, editing and broadcasting at BTA, Radio Sofia and Sofia Press Agency. Their language skills and overall competence were much in demand at the National Bank and foreign trade organizations. I, myself, have been fortunate to have ex-college alumni as teachers at school and university, to whom I owe so much ...

Rising like phoenix from the ashes, as the College majestically stands on its newly reclaimed grounds, it is aspiring to recapture the best from its past and to face up to the impending challenges of today. When I met Mr. Lou Perske, the present director of the College, its recent history unraveled before my eyes. The ferocious and laborious battle with government institutions to restitute the unlawfully impounded property had to be waged by the first director, Dr. Roger Whitaker, sent to rebuild the College, to make it rise from the rubble and devastation. Most of the buildings, though structurally sound, were gone to rack and ruin, the library had almost been destroyed, the beautiful park had turned to an overgrown jungle. As Lou Perske admits, Dr. R. Whitaker’s task was very demanding and it was sheer miracle for the short span of two years that his mission had been successfully completed. When Dr. A. Charles took over in 1994 he had to grapple with some serious financial problems and to struggle to keep the college going. Also, his job was to see to the growth of the College to a five year program. He saw to the regular enrollment of a 100 students for the next three years, a process brought to a climax in the first graduation ceremony in 1997.

What were the sticky points when Mr. Lou Perske took over in 1997?

“We are taking the best of the brightest students on a scholarship basis. My mission was therefore to make the College financially stable and to further solidify the operations. Also, we expect all our students to go on to university and we give them some assistance with that ...”

The facts speak for themselves. Sixty-seven out of hundred graduates took the SAT exam last autumn. Their average score was higher than that of last year’s freshman class at Columbia or Johns Hopkins University. Many of them had been admitted to 55 leading American universities, among them Cal Tech and Princeton. Of the others, most were accepted at the American University at Blagoevgrad and Sofia University.

In the spirit of the traditional values of the College, Mr. Lou Perske put a special emphasis on their ambition to stick to high standard of academic excellence and personal integrity - fully aware “they were educating the future leaders of the country”. And he added that according to the best of American educational concepts, extra-curricula club activities contributed substantially “to developing all-rounded personalities”.

But I could learn more about the activity of over than 50 clubs from Mr. Bill Fisher, Dean of Students at the College:

“The club activities are voluminous and range from competitive to non-competitive ones, from swimming and fishing to basketball and volleyball. Culture is one thing a number of students are interested in. The Criss-cross club informs the students about cultural events in Sofia, while the Culture club enlightens their classmates on a variety of American and Bulgarian customs and holidays. There is also “the Weak Care Club” which is involved in charity. They sell baked cookies and other goods to the parents to raise money for the orphanage. Each club has its presiding officer who keeps me informed about what has been planned and what is going on. The art clubs are quite active, the drama club, standing among them. They’d had put up a few productions which were a huge success, like “Alice in Wonderland” and “Hair”. Now they are rehearsing “Dracula”, which is to be shown shortly. Some of the students think their extra-curricula activities are adding on to their assets as prospective university applicants”.

Mr. Bill Fisher was honest enough to discuss openly with me some of the problems he confronted as a Dean of Students. One of them was irregular attendance. Part of the problem was the increasingly demanding requirements of the College. In the prep, attendance was not a problem, but it turned into a problem with more mature students, who were moreover encouraged to skip classes by their friends from other schools, where truancy is a mass practice. Drug abuse is another serious issue which had to be seen within the context of drug abuse which is a true epidemic at many secondary schools in Sofia.

What is the College’s strategy in this respect? One thing is educating the youngsters about the hazards to their health, health classes which were incorporated in their biology or sports classes. Another thing was discussing the issue informally with them, or showing them documentary films about the devastating effect of drug abuse on young lives. Another problem, yet to be tackled, is the reintegration of younger and older students with each other. Naturally, it has to be done with the assistance of student government and by organizing more study trips and excursions.

Another more serious challenge is cultivating in the pupils a tolerant unprejudiced attitude to cultural diversity. They discuss different aspects of it in the English classes, they learn about long suffering minorities like gypsies and Jews. Moreover, the undergraduates are exposed to teachers  of different nationality and culture - American, British, Canadian, Russian, Georgian, which inevitably broadens their horizon.

Also, there is a code of honor, deeply embedded in the school’s tradition, which implies certain strict rules of behavior, like honesty, discipline, a sense of responsibility. I discussed this issue with Mr. Tim Smith, the College councilor, who  works hard at improving the students’ chances in applying at universities. He explained that, as far as the code of honor goes, they gave pupils a second chance, so offences done in the 8-th grade were not kept on record. But when the offences showed a recurrent pattern, strict sanctions were applied and the offences were put down on their record. Later, this information is passed on to prospective educational institutions in the US. The students are fully aware of this requirement in tune with the College’s mission to cultivate an acute sense of social responsibility.

 I also met Jill Newton, a biology teacher, who, unlike Bill Fisher and Tim Smith, was a newcomer to the college. She thought the kids were bright and eager to learn. But, in her opinion, they were a bit inhibited in expressing their point of view, compared to American kids who have no fear of doing it.

While walking around from one office to the next, from the library to the multimedia lab, from the biology to the chemistry lab, I could get the feel of the place where the youths seemed to be comfortable and at ease, always laughing and cheering. I watched them play basketball, strictly censuring each other, then other pupils, playing table tennis with “a coach” who supervised the fairness of the game, and some more inquisitive minds poring over books in the library, probably preparing their weekly essay.

While going around the college buildings, I had casual chats with students of a different age. What was common in their response was their sense of pride of belonging to such a reputable institution. They were strongly aware of the rare chance of being admitted on the basis of their wits and not on economic grounds. They all liked the liberal atmosphere where you could freely express your views and suit your various interests in the clubs. They appreciated they were looked after by their teachers as far as their plans of further education go. And most of all, for the excellent education that would give them better chances in the future. They all liked the intercultural atmosphere at the College, they thought it broadened their horizon and made life more exciting. Hopefully, on hindsight, they might think of the college years as the best time of their life.

On leaving the college, I contemplated the dignified outlines of the four buildings that have been beautifully restored and the spacious campus grounds that had turned into a jungle has regained much of their previous well‑groomed look. While enjoying the greenery around me I remembered a curious detail from the College’s history. When it moved to its present site, there was a rule - whenever a pupil did something wrong, he had to atone for his “sin” by planting a tree on the campus grounds. The “sin” had long been forgotten but the trees are still around, witnessing another “golden age” in the dramatic history of the American College in Sofia ...         

Sofia Western News Monthly, October 1998

USAGE OF THE ARTICLE IN ACADEMIC WRITING (Notes from a public lecture, delivered to PhD students on 12 November 2012 at The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics to the BAS)

USAGE OF THE ARTICLE IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Dr. Ksenia Kisselincheva

Notes from a public lecture, delivered to PhD students on 12 November 2012 at The Institute of Mathematics and Informatics to the Bulgarian Academy of Science

I would like to refresh your knowledge about the usage of the definite and indefinite article in English, by summarizing the main rules of correct use with suitable examples. At the same time, we’ll try to trace out a number of key differences in their use in the Bulgarian language. This should be done with a view of the confusion, caused by these differences since it accounts for the common mistakes, made by Bulgarian learners of the English language.

The differences between the two languages start from the very beginning:  a definite article can be used with countable nouns in English, while in the Bulgarian language, a definite article can be used with any noun, both countable and uncountable. Also, the definite article in English is always placed before the noun, while in Bulgarian, it is placed in post position to the noun, as an integral ending. In English we say:

e.g. the laptop, the mobile, the printer, while in Bulgarian, we say: лаптопът, мобилният, принтерът

But, unlike in Bulgarian, on the whole, we cannot use the definite article in English before uncountable nouns, except in specific cases. In contrast to that, in our native language, we can use the definite article with uncountable abstract nouns:

e.g. In English we say: knowledge, freedom, justice

       In Bulgarian we can say: знанието, свободата, справедливостта

The differences between both languages are even more striking, when the issue of the indefinite article is addressed. In Bulgarian, we don’t have to bother with thinking of the indefinite article, we may call it “a zero article” which applies to both countable and uncountable nouns:

e.g. книга, таван, цвете

Conversely, as we have remembered well, in English, we always use the indefinite article “a” or “an” with countable nouns in the singular. It originates from the cardinal numeral “one”: 

e.g. a house, a yard, an apple, an hour

There are specific cases where the indefinite article can be used with uncountable nouns, as the case is, when a particular representative of a category is mentioned:

e.g.  I know a Ghetti, he deserves well his family name.

I would like just to remind you about the flexibility of the English language - we can easily turn any uncountable nouns into countable ones by placing something like “a piece of” or “an item of”:

e.g. a piece of advice, an item of news, a slice of lemon, a loaf of bread etc.

Also, unlike the Bulgarian, we use the indefinite article with some cardinal numerals like:

e.g. a dozen, a hundred, a million

Apart from this, we are also on the alert not to omit the indefinite article in some set collocations:

e.g. have a good time, have a cold, be in a hurry, it is a shame etc.

Unfortunately, we have to memorize them, since such collocations are numerous and commonly used, but, it is in away a blessing in disguise since it is good exercise of our memory!

There are some other peculiar cases of employing the indefinite article with certain quantifiers, such as:

 a lot of, a great deal of, a few, or with adverbs of frequency, such as: once a week, twice a day, sixty miles an hour etc.

As it was already mentioned, abstract nouns in English do not take the indefinite article, except when the meaning is narrowed down and specified by a defining clause.

e.g. We loved with a love that was more than love

No indefinite article is generally placed in set expressions such as:

 e.g. have lunch, have breakfast, have supper, have dinner

 However, the indefinite article is always placed when the meaning is further specified in one way or another.

The definite article derives from “that”, a demonstrative pronoun for pointing at an object which is not within immediate reach. As far as the pronunciation is concerned, it is pronounced [thə] before words, beginning with a consonant or a semi-vowel and it is pronounced [thi:] before words, beginning with a vowel or a silent “h”:

e.g. a desk, a yard, a woman, an orange, an hour

Unlike the indefinite article, whose usage is more restricted, the definite article can be generally used with both countable and uncountable nouns:

e.g. the glass, the mobile, the luggage, the furniture

It is widely used with nouns, which are unique of their kind within the framework of our human perception, such as:

e.g. the sun, the moon, the earth, the sky, the horizon etc.

The definite article is always employed with nouns, which have just been mentioned in the previous sentence, or a preceding clause of the same sentence:

e.g. There is a flower in the vase. The flower is crimson red. / I met a student of mine, I mean, the student who asks too many questions.

Also, the definite article is required, in case the noun is specified by an adjective, a phrase or a subordinate clause:

e.g. the man that I met; the young woman I told you about,  

Before nouns, denoting objects which are unique within a certain environment, the definite article is obligatory:

e.g. Open the door! (There is only one door to the room which is available.)

Making generalizations is a special case in point, as it has already been shown with the usage of the indefinite article. It is a major stumbling block for Bulgarian learners of English because in certain cases, the rule of generalizations in English differs significantly from the respective rules in the Bulgarian language. So, we omit the definite article in generalized statements when the countable noun is in the plural:

e.g. Horses are noble animals. / Babies cannot survive on their own. / Laws are made by people, so they cannot be perfect. Ban examples!

While with a generalized statement, referring to a countable noun in the singular, the definite article is used both in English and Bulgarian:

e.g. The horse is a noble animal; The panda bear is a threatened species; The bike is an environmentally friendly vehicle.

However, the rule of generalized statements for uncountable nouns follows a different pattern in English and Bulgarian:

e.g. Butter is made from milk. - no article, while Masloto se pravi ot mliako. - a definite article. 

Another difference between the two languages which is misleading for Bulgarian speakers, and, which is often the source of silly mistakes, refers to the usage of the definite article before certain geographical names – like rivers, seas, oceans, straits, mountain chains, peninsulas, a group of islands, deserts, countries, regions:

e.g. the Nile, the Black sea, the Turkish Straits, the Alps, the Sahara desert, the Balkans, the USA, the Middle East,  the West Indies etc. 

Conversely, in Bulgarian, no article is placed before some geographical names, related to the geographical names of water resources:

 e.g. Nil, 4erno More, Sredizemno more, Dunav, Sena, Niagarski vodopad, the Persian Gulf etc.

No article is placed in Bulgarian before geographical names of peninsulas, groups of islands and deserts:

e.g. Sahara, Zapadni indis, Apeninski poluostrov,     

 Another tricky difference between the two languages which misleads foreign learners concerns surnames. In English we put the definite article before the surname when used in the plural, while in Bulgarian we don’t:

e.g. the Andersons, the Forsytes, the Kennedys, but Ivanovi, Petrovi, Dimitrovi etc.

We should always bear in mind that there are some exceptions with names of states when they contain the word republic, kingdom or states, whose name is in the plural:

e.g. the United Kingdom, the united States of America, the People’s Republic of China, the Netherlands, the Philipines etc.

Another difference in the usage of the definite article refers to names of newspapers, magazines, ships, museums, galleries, hotels, restaurants, theatres and cinemas:

e.g. The Times, the Economist, the Titanic, the British Museum, the Tate Gallery, the Sheraton Hotel, the Bombay Restaurant, the Lumiere Cinema etc.

There are other special case when we omit the definite article when we think of places or institutions as a place for carrying out a certain activity:

e.g. at school, in prison, at university, go home, go to bed to enter university etc.

I would like to turn your attention to a subtle difference in usage of the definite article. We say “the most charismatic” but when we employ “most” with the meaning of “pove4eto”, we omit the article in English.

Apart from this, it might be difficult for Bulgarians to remember such expressions as:

e.g. in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening

Or, also remember some special cases like:

Go to the cinema, go to the theater, listen to the radio, play the guitar, play the violin, go to the doctor, go to the dentist etc.

Basically, no definite article is placed before nouns, which have a generalized meaning, such as raw materials, metals, colors, academic subjects, sports games, certain activities:

e.g. iron, silver; writing, ironing; chemistry, biology; chess, squash, golf, cricket etc.

As we mentioned above, we don’t place the definite article before places where a specific activity is carried out, however, when there is a name, attached to it we omit the article:

e.g. Harvard University, Yale University, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square etc.

We omit the article in certain expressions, such as:

e.g. at night, by day, by car, on foot, from top to bottom, arm in arm, day after day etc.

So, I have tried to summarize the specific difficulties in the usage of the article which Bulgarian learners of English face and I would recommend to you to do more drilling exercises in the Internet, in order to get over the misleading influence of your mother tongue.

I would like to finish my exposition with a generalization from the 90’s which might make you laugh: “Phd’s drive taxis”, so make sure that no such generalization is true for you, hopefully, when you receive this academic degree. You should be well motivated to do so, since scientists are privileged to explore uncharted territories of knowledge until their last breath, and while doing this “valuable service to humanity”, scholars are paid money to satisfy their insatiable curiosity.

     Thanks for attending the event and taking an active part in it! Good luck in all your creative endeavors!

ДА ПОДДЪРЖАМЕ ТОПЛИНАТА МЕЖДУ НАС И МЛАДИТЕ

ДА ПОДДЪРЖАМЕ ТОПЛИНАТА МЕЖДУ НАС И МЛАДИТЕ

Интервю с проф. Станислав Памукчиев

Проф. Станислав Памукчиев е завършил Националната художествена академия през 1979 година. Работи в областта на живописта, рисунката, обекта и инсталацията. Направил е над 30 самостоятелни изложби, както у нас, така и в редица европейски страни – Германия, Холандия, Австрия, Франция – и САЩ. Участник е и в редица колективни изложби и селекции на международни форуми от рода на Арт–Цюрих и Арт-феър в Стокхолм. Последната му изложба се състоя в галерия Академията през октомври-ноември 2013 година.

Как повлия на оформянето Ви като художник изборът на специалност „Стенопис”?

Моят избор определено повлия в посока на относителна свобода в школовката. За разлика от академичния импресионизъм в руски стил, който доминираше тогава, стенописта ме учеше на условност, деформация, стилизация. Малко по-късно българската живопис беше обновена и преобразена от големите – Никола Петков, Светлин Русев, Иван Кирков.

Вие чететe и осмисляте много автори, свързани с изкуството, религията и митологията. Какво Ви даде един Бердяев, който сте прочели от начало до край?

Много ми е дал. Теоретична плътност и патос в откриването на други пространства. Не по-малко е въздействал на светоотношението ми Мирча Илиаде. И задължително трябва да спомена Джоузеф Кембъл ‑ друга звезда на небосклона на сравнителната митология и културология.

Кои от поетите обичахте да четете на млади години?

От чуждите – Торо и Уитман. От българските – Дебелянов и символистите. Всички тези влияния затвърждават едно интуитивно докосване до скрития смисъл и едновременно то върви и през усилието в рисуването, през мъчителните търсения да намериш себе си.

И как стигнахте до предпочитанието на пепелта като материал и като техника?

Всичко е дадено предварително. После – само се осмисля. Неповторимото себеизразяване на художника става с непрекъснато опипване на територии. Търсейки материала, който да изрази моите интуиции и прозрения, стигнах до пепелта. Тя носи голяма смислова дълбочина с културната си символика свързана с огъня. Огънят е в основата на нашата цивилизация и е символ на пречистване, трансформация, медиатор между тук и отвъд, преход от материално в духовно. Пепелта е следата от грандиозен акт на трансформация. Човечеството само от 150 години е на електричество, в предишните етапи на съществуването му всичко се е въртяло около огъня.

Има ли други български художници, които работят с алтернативни материали като пепелта?

Да, има, но смятам, че не е така концептуално осмислено. В абстрактната живопис има автори, които работят с пръст, слама, пясък, графит и други. В началото на 90-те години имаше опит за разширяване границите на картината, от който съществена част беше промяната на материала и техниката. При мен, пепелта беше осмислена като смисъл и съдържание, а не само като промяна на материала и визията.

Какви са основните тематични внушения във Вашето творчество?

Метаморфозата в човешкия смисъл. Вечното движение на пътища и смисъл. Голямата метафора на живота и смъртта. Диренето на морални и ценностни мотиви. Картината като пространство, ограничена от рамката, ме заведе до пластичните триизмерни пространства. Моята предишна изложба на Шипка 6 през май 2013 година беше посветена на инсталационната техника, която закономерно ми наложи своята условност и абсолют. Но устойчиво се запази тенденцията на моето интуитивно усещане за трансцендентно-мистичното, както и за големите опозиции: тяло – дух, свещенно – профанно, светлина – мрак, осветената и сенчестата страна на човешката психика.

Какво мислите за комерсиалната визуална култура, която ни атакува навсякъде?

Не мога да скрия моята съпротива срещу днешната употреба на културата като забава. С други думи, развлечение след като сме били употребени физически, морално и интелектуално. Културата е възникнала преди всичко като коректив и като духовно изкачване, а не като забава. Аз се съпротивлявам срещу тази подмяна в предназначението на изкуството. Масовата култура подбужда глад за зрелища и сетивни удоволствия. Това е част от програмата за обезличаване на човешкото у човека, превръщането му в удобен материал за манипулиране.

Говорите ли на тази тема с Вашите студенти, интересно е какво мислят за масовата култура?

Разбира се, че да. Разговарям с тях във всички посоки. Обаче през тях минава и друга информация и те реагират по различен начин. Особено през последните няколко години, разликата във възрастта между нас става все по-осезаема. Опитвам се да поддържам топлината между нас като живеене и реакции. Благодарен съм на професията на преподавател, че не ме затваря в моя бульон, че потъвам и се разтварям в други енергии. Опитвам се да си поддържам будно любопитствата към съвременното изкуство, независимо от моята лична програма на художник.

Има ли тенденции в съвременното изкуство, които Ви допадат, и такива ‑ които ни Ви допадат?

Разбира се – да. Това, което става в западната култура има свои исторически цивилизационен ход. Ние се намираме комплексирано в периферията на този ход. Мисля, че в момента траекторията на западната цивилизация е низходяща по-скоро, отколкото възходяща. На нас, като хора в провинцията не и остава нищо друго освен да имаме своята позиция, своята отговорност и достойнство. Да изберем своята позиция, вярна с нашата национална традиция, а не сляпо да копираме. Може да черпим вдъхновение и пример от високите постижения на западното изкуство, но не да преписваме. Трудно е, но задължително да запазим своята самобитност, въпреки диктата на медиите и обществената конюнктура. Потопени в информационния океан младите лесно могат да се удавят и да не намерят своята неповторима идентичност.

Според Вас човечеството, ако стигне до краен предел, ще тръгне ли в друга посока?

Много мислещи хора смятат, че това неизбежно ще стане. Аз се опитвам да върна човека към първичното усещане за мистичното. То се намира на границата на познаваемото, и пред бездната на неизвестното. Тогава се поражда търсенето на отговори, което е дало начало на всички религии. Ввъ ново време заменихме това чувство за мистичното с илюзията за икономическия и технологическия напредък и още повече с консуматорското задоволяване на желанията. Този постоянен стремеж у мен към трансцедентното е опит да спася нещо от себе си и да разговарям с другите за нещата от живота. В крайна сметка трябва да извличаме нещо стойностно и трайно.

Смятате ли, че въпреки изкушенията на новите технологии не трябва да се поддържат традиции в обучението на младите художници като изстраданато усилие да се научиш да рисуваш добре?

Лично аз мисля, че трябва да се мине през изстраданото усилие на научаването да рисуваш добре и аз застъпвам идеята за умерена, умна консервативност в Академията. На Запад беше загубена класическата традиция в обучението на младите, но сега отново се връщат към нея, към изискването да се изобразява и да се развива дарбата, заложена у родения художник. Само тогава той може да намери трайно своята неповторимо индивидуален почерк. 

Интервюто взе д-р Ксения Киселинчева
ноември 2013