i am an artist, designer, facilitator, and researcher. i experiment with mediums such as visual, digital, and sound art & design. recently finished my master’s programme in fine art and media design: experimental publishing at the piet zwart institute in rotterdam. in the context of my master's research, i aimed at finding accessible entry points for other visual makers to use sound in their research and artistic work. in my practice, i weave diverse lines of work and disciplines - artistic research, collaborative practices exploration, publishing, documentation, and addressing socially-charged themes with a mixture of mediums.

årtist statement

My artistic style is experimental and laboratorial. I am constantly trying out various techniques and stylistic approaches. Many of my works are always work in progress and I don’t need something to be fully finished before I publish it. I value imperfection, small details, errors, and intuitive decisions when visualising complex concepts - very much in the concept of DIY & diwo culture. anything that makes the artwork human. currently, i am interested in mixing different mediums and experimenting with visual, digital, and sound art. my latest research focus goes to ways to create collective sound-based publications.

exhibitions

[2023-12-01 ~ 2023-12-03] Meet the Makers, collective exhibition organised by the Hmm and the participants in their FYI Digital Makers’ programme // Amsterdam, the Netherlands

[2023-11-02 ~ 2023-12-02] S.Å.T.E. - Sounds at the Exposure, hosted by sign project space // Groningen, the Netherlands

[2023-06-29 ~ 2023-07-02] Making This Bubblic was the group show of the graduates at experimental publishing 2023. there, I had a Sound Jams installation and my publication sound jams: deluxe edition was available at the blob shop. // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2022-05-17~2022-07-17 + 2023-11] Awakening Between The Lines at the national gallery kvadrat 500 // sofia and ruse, bulgaria

[2022-04] co-facilitator of artistic workshop on the topic of feminism WeMen. participation in group exhibition expussytion and maker of its e-zine catalog. // segovia, spain

[2021-09-10 ~ 2021-10-08] Crown Shyness in the halley // london, uk

[2020-11] Biennale of Illustration at the sofia history museum // sofia, bulgaria

[2020-05] Illustration Pop-Up Vol. 3 online exclusive // online

[2019-08] illustration Pop-Up at ko-op gallery // sofia, bulgaria

[2017-10] Subjective Mapping 14-day residency and a group exhibition // brivezac, france

[2014-09] Sidewalks Neighbourhood, solo photography exhibition and and design and illustration of sidewalk diary look-book. the project was funded by sofia municipality’s programme culture // sofia, bulgaria

Publications

[2024-06] Sound Jams / Deluxe Edition - a mixed-media publication, project of my master’s research at XPUB // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2022-04~06] collective artistic publication Radio Implicancies, as part of my master degree studies @xpub // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2022-04] Yin Yang collective publication by Floor van Meeuwen, a collection of thoughts for/how self-publishers [to] balance the struggle of publishing in the climate crisis era. // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2022-01~03] participation and editing of our XPUB collective artistic publication This Box Found You For A Reason, as part of my master degree studies. It was launched at page not found // the hague, the netherlands

[2021-12] three illustrations were published by the third and last edition of Podslon magazine: 3 online and 1 in the printed edition [mental pain: clouds in the head] // sofia, bulgaria

[2021-11~12] illustration & graphic design of visual guide I Can Myself [bulgarian, мога сама], created together with emprove foundation. the e-book is created to support mentors in Bulgaria help women who survived a toxic relationship and need support into building up their autonomous life // sofia, bulgaria

[2021-09~12] collective artistic publication Learning How To Walk While Catwalking, as part of my master degree studies. It was launched at varia, a collective space for everyday technologies. // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2021-03~04] illustrations and design for the illustrated e-book Sofia’s Adventures in the Entrepreneurship, a project co-created with Elena Nikolova and feb (female entrepreneurship bulgaria) with the support of bulgarian Fund for women. More about it here. // sofia, bulgaria

[2021-04~07] illustration for the first and second editions of the magazine Podslon - a social project addressing the challenges and issues of mental health. the illustration is published both in print and on the website.

[2021-01] selected work by Fine Acts as part of the creative challenge Reimagining Human Rights. the work OK Cards - We’re in this together is available on fineacts.co and thegreats.co

[2021-01] a comics and visual storytelling project sofiaslice - a funny city heroine, whose stories depict the current life in the Bulgarian capital - sofia.

[2020-09] illustration on series of poems by poet and activist from Afghanistan Parwana Amiri produced by brush&bow. published on their blog. // online + london, uk

[2020-08] illustration of series of articles by kenyan journalist winnie linet on her experience in lebanon working under the kafala system. published on open democracy. produced by brush&bow

[2020-02] illustration of a booklet, part of project tandem for culture - europe [commissioned work, see here] // vienna, austria & beaulieu-sur-dordogne, france

performances, workshops, and events

[2023-11-05] facilitation of a Sound Jam workshop: audiozine making at the Zine Camp, worm // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2023-04-29] experimental sound performance at varia together with mitsitron and kamo, part of Extratonal Infrastructure #4 // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2023-02-12] live sound jam session at Radio WORM Expanded, re#sister, together with mitsitron and Supisara // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2022-09 ~ 2023-09] coordinator & care-taker of Willem de Kooning Academy’s in-house residency Room For Sound // rotterdam, the netherlands

[2022-09-5~20] co-facilitator, editor and contributor at the Music Moves You[th] residency-workshop, organised by Nomadways // burlats, france

[2022-06-22] participation in collective residency & informal concert performance X-unPub, created by harold schellinx at la générale with xpub1 // paris, france

[2022-06-20~23] together with xpub1, a residency at La Générale: Sound Publishing where we launched the final release of our weekly radio implicancies experiments // paris, france

[2019-10] Invisible Cities Samples on Art in Public Space // plovdiv, bulgaria

[2018-09] organiser and curator of Crèestival a visual and performing arts 3-day festival // brivezac, france

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collectives & memberships

nomadways . since 2016 I am part of the association’s core team. as an artivists there, i design workshops, residencies and trainings that bring artists and educators together to experiment and play with topics and mediums.

blob shop collective . created by us, the 2023 graduates at experimental publishing at the piet zwart institute . based in rotterdam [nl]

pen&pen collective . in 2021 i co-founded [with silvia alba] a visual doing collective which specialises in visual translation. we turn complex information into visuals that are easy to digest, facilitate creative boost sessions and design interactive live fresco boards for a better connection with event audiences.

Union of Freelance Artists . member since february 2021.

Brush & Bow . since 2020 I am an illustration contributor to the creative journalism project brush&bow: we are a collective of artists, journalists, researchers, musicians and social workers based around the world, working in collaboration with citizen journalists to highlight individual voices within wider socio/political issues.

ICOM . Member of the international council of museums since 2019.

Female Entrepreneurship Bulgaria . since 2019 I am a co-founder of a women entrepreneurship collective.

Emprove . since 2018 I am a visual communication, illustration and design contributor to the social project Emprove that aims at supporting and empowering women who have been domestic abuse victims or are facing toxic relationships.

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education & awards

2021-2023: master of fine art and media design: experimental publishing [xpub], piet zwart institute [willem de kooning academy] / rotterdam, the netherlands

documentation of my master research you can find on my XPUB wiki page

2016-2020: bachelor of art history, national art academy / sofia, bulgaria

2016-2020: bachelor of art education theory and practice, national art academy / sofia, bulgaria

2013: Computer programming basics, entrepreneur first’s programme code first girls / london, uk

2010-2012: professional certificate in marketing, the chartered institute of marketing / maidenhead, uk

awards: 2023 - master research award by willem de kooning academy, together with erica gargaglione & xpub3 // 2013 - 30 under 30 in forbes bulgaria's first selection // 2012 - second laureate at the european commission's project passion competition e-skills: jobs of the future.

get in touch

find me on social media or hit me up via email at aaaalnik [@] gmail.com

you can also sign up for my monthly newsletter.

all rights reserved. 2017-2024, alexandra nikolova.