THE FENCE

For the project, Krassimir Kolev looks at the glasses as a symbolic fence. These glasses aren’t just a tool for vision; they symbolically surround and protect the wearer’s vision and worldview.
If the eyes are a window to the soul, then the task of the glasses is to filter what is allowed to come in and what is not. They are the guardians of the soul, giving security and protection. They help to see — and to be seen.

Krassimir Kolev is a Bulgarian-born artist whose practice bridges painting, sculpture, and new media. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, completing his master's degree in 1998 under Michelangelo Pistoletto. His path, however, began much earlier, rooted in a teenage decision to dedicate himself to art, and shaped by years of exploration across Europe.

Kolev's work moves fluidly between the figurative and the abstract, guided by a deep fascination with the human form. For him, the body is a living canvas, where the soul inscribes its stories. Through portraits, expressive compositions, and quiet studies of nature, he seeks to reveal these inner narratives, transforming personal and collective emotion into visual form.
After years spent in Sweden and Norway working in motion design and digital media, Kolev returned to Austria, where he now lives and teaches. Despite working across mediums, drawing remains his anchor—what he calls his “artistic breathing.” Whether working in oil, watercolour, or sculpture, his focus is constant: to capture the complexity of being human. Kolev's work does not aim for perfection in form, but for truth in feeling. Each work begins with observation and ends in interpretation, where the visible world meets the unseen. Through this, he offers a deeply human vision, marked by empathy, nuance, and a quiet search for meaning.