Simona Racheva

Contemporary Art Practice (MA)

Rescue Mission 2024 / Found wood, metal, glass, concrete, fabric, thread / 290 x 185 x 140 cm / Rescue Mission 2024 is a sculpture that addresses the process of replacement of the green areas in cities with buildings. The sculpture is made of fallen branches from different trees found in Kensington Gardens and Battersea Park. They are joined together to create a free-standing sculpture that looks like a living tree. Cuts and missing parts are repaired and replaced with metal, glass and concrete. The ‘leftovers’ from trees and building materials are combined in a desperate attempt to preserve the little nature that remained. The fabric that covers some of the cuts, which is linked to wood grafting, and the thread bracelets (martenitsi), an element of cultural heritage and faith, give signs of hope. The creation of such hybrid organism has a dualistic nature. On one hand it presents the brutality in the destruction of nature, while on the other, it shows an act of healing and care.

Rescue Mission 300 / Found wood and cotton thread / 250 x 90 x 60 cm (dimensions vary in different forms of display) / Rescue Mission 300 views nature as an unclaimable independent organism. A dead branch found in Kensington Gardens is transformed into an interactive sculpture out of natural matter. The wood was cut into pieces, drilled and stitched back in its original order. The form of the sculpture mimics the shape of a branch, with the presence of movements that are not entirely natural for a living tree. The fragmentation of the branch transforms it from a solid wood into a ‘fragile’ object. The artistic process is an attempt at partial repair.The thread is linked to the suture used in hospitals and the act of stitching to an attempt to re-connect the separated pieces and cure the injury. The work explores the idea of reversing and healing the damage caused to nature. All fragments are there, yet the picture is still not full. It is evidence of attempts with no confirmation of success, leaving the memory of the branch on display.

Rescue Mission 216 / Orange peel and thread / 6 x 6 x 4.5 cm / Rescue Mission 216 is the first work from the “Rescue Mission” series. It represents an attempt at healing and putting together by using the language of the surgery. An object from our everyday life, an orange, has been through the process of cutting and stitching together aiming to bring it back to its ‘healthy’ condition. The final work becomes evidence of the impossibility to ‘cure’ once damaged object by transforming and reconstructing it. Hope comes hand in hand with devastation. Although, once harmed, a living organism could be treated, only partial healing could be possible.

Another Spring Has Passed / 10 min video / 3 min excerpt: https://vimeo.com/933017013 / Another Spring Has Passed is part of a series of experimental videos. A wax stick is slowly melting until it completely disappears from the frame. In the contemporary world, most of us always live “in a hurry”. This video invites the viewer to sit down quietly and step out of the fast-paced environment we live in. It gives an opportunity to the viewer to have a moment to relax and provides a space for contemplation.

About

Simona Racheva (b. 2000) is a Bulgarian visual multi-disciplinary artist based in London. Her practice spreads across painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture and installation. She also has interest in text, sound and moving image. In her recent work, she is focused on sculpture and installation and predominantly uses found wood.

Racheva’s practice revolves around sociological and environmental questions. She takes inspiration from her experiences, interactions and observations of her surroundings. Her latest work focuses on nature and the climate crisis. Her need to remain connected with nature while living in a big city environment becomes a reason to work with materials from nature itself. The cyclical actions of destruction, reconstruction and connection reappear in her sculptures. She is provoked to follow that order of actions by the climate change and the natural disasters, which appear more and more often every year. She says: “I have seen numerous times green areas being taken over and damaged for the purpose of expanding the ‘concrete jungle’. Before moving to the UK, I used to live in a very green borough back home. Every time I visit now, I see more and more harm on the natural environment there. My aim is to create works that invite the viewer to reflect on the weight of human actions. To me they are fictional fragments of a future in a dystopia where people are desperately trying to put back together what has been ‘broken’ in attempt to restore it. It is about destruction, but it is also about care.”

Lately, she often cuts the objects and uses materials such as thread, metal, glass and concrete to re-join and repair the broken matter, which results in the creation of objects that realistically mimic their original form. She connects the use of metal to the industrialisation of our surroundings and the concrete and glass to the buildings that are slowly taking over. The thread she links to the suture used in hospitals and the act of stitching to an attempt to re-connect the separated pieces and cure the injury. These processes lead her to create sculptures with very dualistic nature. On one hand, they show signs of hope and an active desire to put things back together. On the other, they become a warning and present the inability to reverse the actions that brought harm and evidence the impossibility to restore what has been damaged.

Simona Racheva’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally across Bulgaria, Poland and the UK. She moved to the UK in 2019 to study and received her BA with first class honours in Fine Art at the Cambridge School of Art, Cambridge, in 2022 where she was awarded the Dr. Supanee Gazeley Fine Art Prize. She received her MA in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2024.

Content Warning

The content on this website may contain themes and materials that some users find distressing or offensive. Further, the content on this website may not be suitable for individuals under the age of 18. User discretion is advised.

Any views and opinions expressed in this student profile represent the views and opinions of the student and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Royal College of Art or its employees or affiliates. The appearance of any views or opinions on this page do not constitute endorsement of those views by the Royal College of Art. This student profile has been made available for informational purposes only. The Royal College of Art does not make any representations or warranties with regard to the accuracy of any information provided in this student profile, nor does it warrant the performance, effectiveness or applicability of any listed or linked sites. The Royal College of Art is not responsible for the content submitted by any user, or for the defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any user. If you wish to report any errors or inappropriate material that may cause offence, please email feedback@rca.ac.uk

To opt out >