Lucid Dreaming
An Interview with:
Teodora Nikolova
Teodora Nikolova is an artist with remarkable ambition and an uncompromising vision. In 2024, after a highly successful career in business, Nikolova decided to pursue her long-held passion for art and pursue a deeply personal path of creative self-expression. In December 2024, she received her first major international recognition after her piece Roses was recognised by the prestigious European Artist Award in Florence. Since then, her work has been exhibited internationally in galleries across Rome, Turin, Monaco, London, Marbella, Florence, Milan, and Barcelona. In April 2026, Nikolova presents an exclusive new body of work, INFINITY, inspired by the Bulgarian National Opera and Ballet, at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris.
One memorable day in 2024, Nikolova took a small palette of acrylic paints and two blank canvases and began to paint. Since then, she has developed an unmistakable visual language imbued with spontaneity, intuitive energy and a deep connection to colour. “The idea arrives all at once - like a flash of lightning,” the artist explains, “Sometimes I surprise even myself with the result. I often work on several pieces simultaneously, as though I am afraid of losing the inspiration. I want to catch it immediately, before it flies away.” In the series of double-sided paintings entitled Infinity in the Dark, Nikolova builds sculptural textured surfaces using acrylic, gold leaf, resin, lace, and textiles. Colour as a symbolic force and an abstract language, communicating emotion and meaning that words cannot convey. A rich, dark palette of inky blues, punctuated by white and glinting metallic elements, recalls the mystery of the night sky or the theatrical lights that glint across the ballet stage.
The artist’s participation in the Carrousel du Louvre involves a remarkable collaboration with the Sofia Opera and Ballet. The Infinity in the Dark paintings incorporate restored and painted ballet slippers, filled with resin, mounted on black lace, and placed on anti-reflective glass. Indeed, Nikolova is inspired by a deep artistic connection to the ballet, “I saw in them something deeply familiar: the same absolute dedication. Ballerinas dance until their feet are numb. I paint until I am exhausted. We are both doing the same thing - giving everything, so that someone else may feel something true.” In the sculpture Success, a figure is entwined with a ballet shoe, visually expressing a powerful connection and commitment to creativity.
For Nikolova, art is precious, connecting and inspiring. With each piece, she commits to giving something of her heart and her soul. She enthuses, “Every one of my works has a soul and a sense of movement. Nothing is static, nothing is coincidental. There is a story, there is depth, there is authenticity. I hope the viewer will pause before it, look carefully, and discover something new the next time they look.”