Mariana Vassileva Index Glass

In "Index Glass", Bulgarian artist Marina Vassileva shows her of the latest video works, as well as a mirror installation. The exhibition reflects how Mariana Vassileva, in a combination of the video media and the mirror as the material, seeks to interact with people. For Vassileva, video art is very much a question of interpersonal communication and her personal and artistic way of making contact in a society where there is rarely time and energy to look into each others eyes. The experience of settling as a stranger in Berlin is the starting point of Mariana Vassilevas ongoing examinations of contemporary loneliness and isolation.

Reflecting Vassilevas genuine interest in the life of casual passers-by, the busy city dweller is the theme of the video "Mirrorlight". Through the video she regards strangers and their movements, while at the same time interrupting their everyday walk by blinding them with a mirror. The reflecting qualities of the mirror are used in the video to create fleeting touches with light, displaying people's spontaneous reactions to her visual attempt to create contact.

The mirror is also used to create connections with people in the video "Reflections", in which Vassileva has asked the visitors in a park in Central Berlin to reflect the sunlight in her camera by holding mirrors in the air. By a stroke of magic, the park is surrounded by a flashing light to the sound of street noise. Employing these simple effects, Vassileva creates a poetic and mystic play of lights, turning an ordinary day into a peculiar spectacle. Hence, a spontaneous cooperation and unexpected sense of togetherness finds place between the visitors in the park on this day - light and music mingling.

Pieces of mirrors put together are seen in the vertical double projection "Index Glass", which has approximately the size of a human being. With a brick wall as background a complete reflection of a human is reconstructed from several pieces. In short sequences with different persons, Vassileva visualizes her fascination of the uniqueness of every human being, which is often experienced in short moments and small movements.

What interests Vassileva in "Index Glass" is the mirror as a material and its dualistic qualities in terms of fragility and hardness, as well as the way in which the unique character of the mirror affects the perception of the viewer. In the sculptural work "Broken Man", a human figure, created by different pieces of mirrors, is reflected on the wall. Working with mirrors in sculpture and installation, "Broken Man" is an example of the latest turn in the artistic practice of Mariana Vassileva.

Mariana Vassileva, born 1964 in Bulgaria, lives and works in Berlin. She is a graduate from Hochschule der Künste in Berlin (aka UDK). In addition to her video works, Vassileva's works include installations and sculptures. She has exhibited in Germany, USA, Mexico and Spain, and with the exhibition in Galleri Image, her work is displayed for the first time in Denmark. In connection with the exhibition, Galleri Image publishes a catalogue with texts by Jette Lykke Jensen and Fernando Galan, including Peter Funken's interview with Vassileva.

The exhibition will be opened by Jesper Vestergaard Hansen, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Kingdom of Denmark.

Welcome to the exhibition on Friday, 20 February, 2009, from 16 to 18.

Mariana Vassileva
"Index Glass"