Biliana Velkova: Splendid

Additional Information

Artist Talk: Saturday, December 6, 1:00 pm, Sherwood Village Meeting Room
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 6, 2:00 pm

Bulgarian-Canadian artist Biliana Velkova’s solo exhibition Splendid includes a series of three large-format photographs that reflect how culture and commerce shape our perception of nature, referring specifically to Banff as a symbol of the Canadian landscape. More generally, Velkova’s work explores how perceptions of “Canadianness” are constructed. The photographs, lush and gorgeous, depict Velkova as a symbol of Disneyfied Canadiana. Dressed in elaborate gowns with long flowing capes and trains that float on the breeze, she is a snow princess who rides a horse-drawn carriage through the picturesque mountain town, who stands overlooking a dramatic Rocky Mountain vista, and who is pulled by dogsled across a frozen lake. The other main component of this exhibition is a line-drawn prairie landscape, rendered in 27 feet of white neon. The piece makes further comment on the slick commercialization of the Canadian wilderness, and how these notions both drive a tourist market and also contribute to a sense of national identity – a fraught concept in a colonialized and multicultural nation.

Originally from Sophia, Bulgaria, Biliana Velkova is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is generally performative and takes the form of live performance, video, new media art, and photography. Velkova has exhibited throughout Canada and internationally. She was the former Executive Director of PAVED Arts in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Biliana Velkova, Splendid (Installation View), 2015. Photo by Don Hall.