Artist’s logo and stamp from 2021
The Power of a Name:
Cтефка is my given name in my native Bulgarian. Efi is how a little girl used to call me several years ago. I loved the shortness and the music of it!
And it sounds like Fe, the symbol for Iron, one of my favourite elements in glaze formulations.Or as ineffable- as I would like to refer to my work. As for Spass, well, it is both deeper and lighter. It was my father's first name which in bulgarian means to save and has strong Orthodox Christian roots. But in German, it means Fun. So, to me, the equation is simple:
The only way to liberate the self is through playful creation, always staying in touch with the beginner's mind. The kid within.
It turned out that my adopted name happens to summarize my philosophy of life.
The Thracian Connection
Picture taken by the artist in the Regional Archaeological Museum in Plovdiv of a Gold Rython in the form of an Amazon head with a helmet on.
I was born in one of the most beautiful and ancient cities in Europe: Plovdiv, in a country known since 681 AC as Bulgaria. Thracians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks and other peoples have adored it too. Traces of old civilizations from Neolithic settlers to recent cultures are imprinted in my town, everywhere…This is the reason for my strong attachment to archeology and ancient cultures.
Finding my Way through Clay
As an impatient seven-year-old, I taught myself how to bake. That's how I learned the importance of time and process. I fell in love with playing with fire, mixing elements and turning them into something else entirely by using heat.
Later on, I got passionate about textures and colours. I taught myself with books and magazines how to create patterns and sew dresses and it was my hobby before I actually went to University to study textile engineering...
I spent the next 25 years in the garment industry, as a teacher in professional institutes (in Bulgaria, Morocco and Tunisia), as a manager in corporations (in Bulgaria and Tunisia) and, since 2005, the year I moved to Canada, as a technical designer in the fashion industry. While I got better and better in garment geometry, getting to know the form and shape of the female body to perfection, there was always an element missing.
As the corporate world of fast fashion industry is the opposite of Art or Science. Mismanagement of both human and natural resources. Overproduction. Consumerism. Pollution. Destruction. Zero creativity. Copying. And NO FUN.
Burn-out, depression. Misalignment of values and reality. And then a discovery, or rather, a touch of the Earth.
During an ergo-therapy session, I found "clay". In truth, it found me. As soon as my hands touched it, it molded me, more than I molded "it”. Ceramics appeared to be the missing link in my adult life. All my creative passions - whether baking, sewing, drawing or painting - suddenly coming together into one process!
Since 2018 I have been completing a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Concordia University with a major in Ceramics while continuing my autodidact studies, not restricted to Art.
I believe that Beauty and Art should surround us in our everyday life and am committed to follow the path of Brother Thomas, Beatrice Wood and Tiffany, just to mention a few.
Nowadays it is all about that elusive glaze. The Alchemist dream of obtaining golden lustre out of common materials.
A Quest for Beauty, a need to understand beyond functionality. A dream of colours that have never been seen, of shapes always organic that remind us of life, so fragile, so tenacious.