Architecture of the Home
Anna Stankova
National Academy of Art Sofia
The exhibition “Architecture of the Home” presents a series of paintings and objects that explore themes of belonging and identity through the image of the house, as well as the tension between control and chance, developed through the chemical processes of oxidation. Rust is used as an active artistic tool, where the final result remains partially unpredictable. It leaves traces and transforms the surface into an archive of change. The attempt to control oxidation turns into a gesture that simultaneously creates and destroys. As a counterpoint to the tension and aggression of rust, the motif of the house emerges as the central visual and conceptual element of the exhibition. It appears as an image of searching—for roots, belonging, and identity. Across the different works, the image is placed in varied environments, creating a charged dialogue between stability and decay, protection and vulnerability. The house appears on rusted surfaces, is constructed from oxidized paper, surrounded in rust-like clouds, or intertwined with barbed wire—simultaneously a symbol of protection and violence. Through these transformations, the idea of home loses its stability and becomes a fragile architecture, subject to external forces. Through its materiality, the project aims to activate a dialogue between image and environment, and to visualize the tension between belonging, aggression, and vulnerability.