krasimir raikov
Mediums Used
Krasimir Raikov was born in the Rodopi Mountain in the heart of Bulgaria. As an artist he strongly believes in the powerful energy of the deep Bulgarian forest. This pure, almost utopic atmosphere of the wilderness has been and will always be one of his main inspirations for creating his sculptures.
Bronze
Krasimir started sculpting his CHAN Totem series more than 30 years ago. CHAN Totems are the song of the Mountain peaks. The voice of the nature. And what better material to show that than bronze. Bronze is ideal for creating visually strong and heavy silhouettes – like the earth itself. He uses dark brown and oxide green patina for the final coverage. He also implements a Bulgarian stylised embroidery in the Totems – exactly like the traditional folklore costumes of the local people.
Glass
Glass is another material that Krasimir really enjoys working with. He has used a cast glass technique – aiming to create that unique semi-transparent watery feeling that no other material could ever achieve. He uses glass in various ways – from sticking different pieces one to another that breaks the light almost like a diamond would, to combining this exquisite material with wood, bronze and stone.
Paper
Krasimir finds something extremely gentle in the lightness of the paper. It looks like this material can create something emotionally light…almost as if it can fly away with the wind.
His latest work is dedicated to the natural elements and Nymphs- both complicated, beautiful and always together, at some point maybe even existing as one. Fire, water, earth and air – all of these strong powers in the body of a delicate creature.
Color loves paper and Krasimir enjoys combining these two materials. Paper sculptures with bright, even electric strokes of paint that lights up their expressions and movements – he finds that fascinating.
Sculptures by krasimir raikov
Credentials
Exhibitions
yes
Krasimir was born in Chepelare - a town in Rodopi mountain in 1962. He graduated from the National High School for Stage and Screen Arts in Plovdiv.
Couple of years later he enrolled in the National Academy of Arts in Sofia and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Sculpture.
As a sculptor Krasimir likes experimenting with different kind of materials, such as bronze, glass, wood and stone. With forty years of experience in the field of sculpture, he is a respected member of UBA (Union of Bulgarian Artists).
He has participated in numerous exhibitions and competitions during his professional career - from Bulgarian cities like Sofia, Plovdiv and Dupnitsa, to countries such as Austria, Japan, Italy and Singapore.
In 1997 his work was selected to be part of the International Biennale Toyamura – Japan.
In 1998 his glass sculpture was included in the selection ‘’ 100 of the best ‘’ by Corning Museum of Glass in the USA.
Krasimir has had many clients from different countries during the years – galleries and private collectors from Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Singapore.
He also has experience in the carousel toys industry, working for a Bulgarian-French company as well as creating realistic and stylised backgrounds for feature films and animation.
