Anna Stankova
Painting
National Academy of Art Sofia
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Fine Art
My location: Sofia, Bulgaria
Anna Stankova
First Name: Anna
Last Name: Stankova
University / College: National Academy of Art Sofia
Course / Program: Painting
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Fine Art
My Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
About
Anna Stankova is a visual artist working in the field of contemporary art, with a focus on experimental materials and process-based practices. Her work explores the tension between control and chance through the use of oxidation as an active artistic tool. Rust functions not merely as a material, but as a co-author—leaving traces, transforming surfaces, and rendering time as a visible component of the image. Within this process, the final outcome remains partially unpredictable, and the artistic gesture oscillates between intervention and the deliberate relinquishing of control.
This work explores the space between destruction and creation. I use rusting and handsewing as two opposing yet interconnected as two processes. Corrosion, though entirely organic, carries a sense of aggression. It reveals how the material itself begins to document its own decay. My response to this destruction is through hand - sewing. It is a gesture associated with femininity-care, repair, but often proves even more damaging to the already fragile surface due to the puncturing. Time and change are woven into the work. The surface preserves memory like skin - scarred, healed, but never untouched. The entire process reflects Hegel’s idea of change: rusting is the thesis, sewing is the antithesis, and the final work becomes the synthesis - a fragile unity born of contradiction. The work is part of the joint exhibition “Coffee Spot” at the Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden, with the organized in partnership Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden.