SOFIA 6

Six emerging artists from Sofia, selected through an open call,
present new works across painting, photography, and installation.

Preslava Damyanova
Maria Ilieva
Hannah Michelle Ivanov
Nadezhda Petkova
Samuil Velev
Yoana Zhecheva

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15 August – 20 September 2025

Opening reception:
Thursday 14 May 18.00 – 21.00

Photography: Ivo Nedyalkov



Untiled Gallery and Soldout.Design present SOFIA SIX, a group exhibition featuring six young artists under the age of 24. Selected through an open call earlier this year, the exhibition highlights a new generation of voices in Sofia’s contemporary art scene. Each artist presents two works that reflect their emerging practices and perspectives, spanning painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, scent-based work, and conceptual media.

Preslava Damyanova (b. 2004) works across painting, installation, and photography. Her works often play with the disorientation of small, intimate spaces, blurring distinctions between object and architecture.

Maria Ilieva (b. 2001), works at the intersection of drawing, scent, and text. Her practice, shaped by living between three countries, explores fragmented familiarity, memory, and the boundaries of perception. Loose Sediments: excerpt is a layered work on paper that resists separation from its counterpart, while I remember a forest uses synthetic scent composition to translate memory into an olfactory experience.

Hannah Michelle Ivanov (b. 2001) is a Bulgarian-American artist whose practice spans painting, drawing, and installation, incorporating archival research and site-responsive observation. Her works here, informed by her ongoing exploration of displacement and belonging, map abstracted relationships between personal narrative and collective history.

Nadezhda Petkova (b. 2002) presents Collection of Unusual Feelings: The space behind your back to the vast landscape, combining 19 drawings on plexiglass with a watercolour landscape. This ongoing project invites viewers to experience a liminal spatial awareness in which self-image is partially erased to heighten perception.

Samuil Velev (b. 2000) contributes Object and Subject, two mixed-media works on plaster exploring the interplay between form and relational presence. His broader practice focuses on the emotional and psychological dimensions of human character through figurative and abstract means.

Yoana Zhecheva’s (b. 2003) textile works Dissecting a Wrapped Building I and Constructing and Deconstructing investigate the quiet absurdities of city life through the architectural fabric of Valencia, where semi-transparent mesh conceals and reveals daily life behind facades under construction.

SOFIA SIX is organised as a charitable initiative to support young artists at formative stages of their careers, offering them a public platform to present new work and engage with audiences.

For press inquiries, please contact: hello@untiledartgallery.com



Транспортни услуги-НФК "Създаване" програма Нови Хоризонти, изложба Мартина Вачева, Мич Брезунек






Preslava Damqnova
Visual study of "Studio 306" 1, 2024
Acrylic on paper
34 x 30 cm
Preslava Damqnova
Visual study of "Studio 306" 1, 2024 (Detail)
Acrylic on paper
34 x 30 cm
Preslava Damqnova
Visual study of "Studio 306" 2, 2024
Acrylic on paper
34 x 30 cm
Preslava Damqnova
Visual study of "Studio 306" 2, 2024 (Detail)
Acrylic on paper
34 x 30 cm
Yoana Zhecheva
Constructing and Deconstructing, 2025
textile, wood, prints
90 x 60 cm
Yoana Zhecheva
Constructing and Deconstructing, 2025
textile, wood, prints
90 x 60 cm
Yoana Zhecheva
Constructing and Deconstructing, 2025 (Detail)
textile, wood, prints
90 x 60 cm
Yoana Zhecheva
Dissecting a Wrapped Building I, 2025
Textile, wood, prints
47 x 30 x 86 cm
Yoana Zhecheva
Dissecting a Wrapped Building I, 2025
Textile, wood, prints
47 x 30 x 86 cm
Yoana Zhecheva
Dissecting a Wrapped Building I, 2025
Textile, wood, prints
47 x 30 x 86 cm
Hannah Michelle Ivanov
My Angel is the Centerfold (licensing nightmare), 2024
Mixed media on plaster
21 x 20 x 4 cm
Hannah Michelle Ivanov
For the Mountain, for the Sea, and for all of Us, 2024
Mixed media on found paper
60 x 47 cm
Hannah Michelle Ivanov
For the Mountain, for the Sea, and for all of Us, 2024 (Detail)
Mixed media on found paper
60 x 47 cm
Maria Ilieva
I remember a forest, 2024
Synthetic scent composition, water pump, pipe system
Dimensions variable
Maria Ilieva
I remember a forest, 2024
Synthetic scent composition, water pump, pipe system
Dimensions variable
Maria Ilieva
I remember a forest, 2024
Synthetic scent composition, water pump, pipe system
Dimensions variable
Maria Ilieva
I remember a forest, 2024
Synthetic scent composition, water pump, pipe system
Dimensions variable
Maria Ilieva
Loose Sediments: excerpt, 2024
Charcoal, pencil and pigment on paper
Dimensions variable
Maria Ilieva
Loose Sediments: excerpt, 2024 (Detail)
Charcoal, pencil and pigment on paper
Dimensions variable
Maria Ilieva
Loose Sediments: excerpt, 2024 (Detail)
Charcoal, pencil and pigment on paper
Dimensions variable
Samuil Velev
Object, 2025 &  Subject, 2025
Both mixed media on plaster
32 x 28 cm / 45 x 35 cm

Samuil Velev
Object, 2025
Mixed media on plaster
32 x 28 cm
Nadezhda Petkova
Collection of unusual feelings: the space behind your back and the vast landscape, 2025
Marker, pen, watercolour, plexiglass, paper
Dimensions variable
Nadezhda Petkova
Collection of unusual feelings: the space behind your back and the vast landscape, 2025 (Detail)
Marker, pen, watercolour, plexiglass, paper
Dimensions variable
Nadezhda Petkova
Collection of unusual feelings: the space behind your back and the vast landscape, 2025 (Detail)
Marker, pen, watercolour, plexiglass, paper
Dimensions variable
Nadezhda Petkova
Collection of unusual feelings: the space behind your back and the vast landscape, 2025 (Detail)
Marker, pen, watercolour, plexiglass, paper
Dimensions variable
Installation View
Installation View