statement

My work is an allegorical representation of our contemporary individual and social states.  What interests me most is our human duality and multi-faceted nature.  I seek to capture the coexistence of vulnerability and power, uncertainty and conviction, depravity and elevation in one and the same individual and/or society.  The figure functions as an allegorical vehicle - a subtle but charged signifier for a suggested yet ultimately open-ended meaning.  The outer becomes emblematic of the inner, whether the outer representation reveals my subject‚s inner state and dissonance or my subject acts as a personification of an idea.  The iconography, formal decisions, and drawing and painting processes are closely intertwined to create subtle, incomplete signs with cognitive, sensual and emotive power intended to draw in the viewer and invite her or his attempt for interpretation.   

bio

born:1978, Sofia, Bulgaria

education:

Syracuse University, MFA in Painting, 2007
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,4-year Degree in Painting, 2004
Interlochen Arts Academy, high school diploma, 1997

selected awards/honors

Purchase Prize for the Permanent Collection of the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Museum and School, 2009
Shaffer Fellowship in Fine Arts, Syracuse University, 2005
Three Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grants, the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, Canada, 2005, 2000 and 1997
Richard C. von Hess European Travel Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2002-04

selected publications

Exhibition review, Newhall, Edith. "Galleries: Irresistible Search for Clues Linking Students and Teachers," The Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, July 5, 2009.
Exhibition review and artwork, Rushworth, Katherine. "Drawing's Comeback," The Post-Standard / Stars, Syracuse, NY, April 8, p.14, 2007

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Elena Peteva and Brett Eberhardt: Recent Works, Artists‚ House Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2009
Elena Peteva and Brett Eberhardt: Recent Works, Artists‚ House Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2008
Elena Peteva: Recent Works, Artists‚ House Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2007

selected group shows

2009 PAFA Alumni Invitational - Legacies: Works by Twelve Former Students of Elizabeth Osborne and Sidney Goodman, Museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 2009
Tallahassee International 24th Annual Juried Exhibition, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL, 2009
PAUSE Contemporary Still Life, MANIFEST Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2009
2008 Biennial: Contemporary American Realism, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN, 2008