It Would Have Been a Lovely Evening (1/6)

Yordan Mihalev

Descriptive information

Type of artwork: Dress, Fashion Design
Material(s) & Technique(s): Chiffon, quartz crystals | Mixed technique
Dimensions:
Year: 2021
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Technical information

Digitisation of artwork: Panagiotis Diapoulis
Equipment used: Cameras: Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 6D | Camera Type: DSLR | Lenses: Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Image processing software: Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (Windows)

License

Reuse this file under the terms of the license Creative Commons Attribution – ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How to cite this image

“It Would Have Been a Lovely Evening (1/6)”. 2021. Artist: Yordan Mihalev. Source: ECHO II website. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.

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About this artwork

A dress made out of nine layers of chiffon and decorated with quartz crystals, burnt to look as it is dissolving and would any moment fall off the body. The dress is kept in place by a red resin heart, while four other hearts (heart 1, heart 2, heart 3, heart 4), made from clear resin, accompany the composition.

This project is about my personal experience of Sofia, and it represents an ongoing change within, that is, in some ways, connected to the city. For me, Sofia represents change, adding layers to a life, magnifying pain so that wounds can be exposed and heal. The dress is like flesh that is melting from the body to leave you exposed, vulnerable. It reveals the body, it reveals what it’s made of, the downmost layer white as to represent the bones being stripped from the flesh of every past self. The hearts, although they look drained of blood and empty, are in fact full of air from which new life shall one day begin. There are traces of pain and broken bones, yes, but there are also traces of flight, of other hearts, of glances and beauty. Sofia is a city where people go to start a new life, a better life maybe. Sofia brings us together as we all are trying to escape from something here, and we are all hoping to be found again.

Yordan Mihalev

The material the designer has worked on to present his artistic ideas is an ethereal, delicate chiffon for his evening gown. He has burned the left half of the garment in order to place there a casting of a heart made out of transparent red resin. Drops of crystals “are dripping down” the gown from the “bleeding” heart. The garment created by Yordan Mihalev reveals the artist’s deep emotional attitude in relation to the object of his research: the city of Sofia. This is a place that gives people so many hopes for a better future, for rescue escapes and for unexpected discoveries.

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