Three questions to Stefan Stoikov
About Stefan Stoikov
Stefan Stoikov is a Ukrainian artist of Bulgarian and Georgian descent. He currently lives and works in Odesa, Ukraine. In his artistic practice, Stefan explores echoes of motifs from different eras, often reimagined through anachronistic costumes and settings. In his works, the artist intertwines classical themes with contemporary ones, using visual allusions to mass culture (computer games, movies, comics) and global culture, striving for multi-layered, metamodern imagery.
He combines drawing and painting to create figurative, portrait-based compositions in an expressionistic manner with elements of surrealism. The characters seem to exist outside space and time, suspended in a kind of oblivion between past and present. The paintings are multi-layered and diverse: distinct graphic elements, set against a more realistic painterly style, heighten the contrast in perception. A dark palette and nocturnal imagery reference expressionism in cinema and painting.
Tell us what your day looks like right now — do you paint every day?
Yes, I paint and make sketches every day. I also teach — usually one or two lessons a day. Overall, I have a lot of time for creative work at the moment, which makes me really happy. I used to illustrate books too, but I don’t do illustration anymore, and that also gives me the chance to focus more on my own art.
Which mythological figures have you turned to most often in your work, and why?
In general, I’m most often inspired by female mythological figures. I wouldn’t say I’m tied to any one specific mythology or culture — rather, I’m drawn to images that have already become well known in art history. For example: Judith, Lada from the myth “Lada and the Swan,” the Madonna and Child, the Gorgon, the figure of the Valkyrie. Or lesser-known characters with a more local flavor, like Lucretia, the Banshee, the Mavka, or the Lady of the Lake from the legend of King Arthur.
I’ve been interested in art since I was very young. My first vivid impression of art was when I was six — I saw an engraving by Dürer in a children’s book about knights. Later, around thirteen, I started going to the local library and reading more about artists and art.
Do you divide art today into “mass” and “elite” art?
I like contrasts in painting — both conceptual and visual. I enjoy blending with things that are almost opposites, like “elite” and “mass.” Those kinds of oxymorons make me think more as an artist when I’m creating something new. For instance, I might be inspired by a film or a cartoon, and at the same time I’ll be drawn to an artist who feels completely from another world. And then you sit there trying to figure out how to synthesize it all — so that in the end it becomes a single, coherent painting.
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