Preslav Kostov (b. 1998, Ruse, Bulgaria) lives and works in London. His painting investigates the formation of the image through the fragmented formal structure of the human body. Restricting his vocabulary to the figure, Kostov uses bodily fragments to generate analogy and pursue catalytic images rather than narrative resolution. Through accumulation, overpainting and erasure, the canvas operates as a tableau-like field in which forms are continually constituted and effaced, leaving a residue of their making.
Kostov’s figures hover between recognition and dissolution, their partial visibility registering the tension between image, memory and presence. His practice engages with the immigrant experience through conditions of displacement, translation, recollection and belonging, locating these concerns within the material and perceptual instability of the image rather than through narrative. Painting becomes both a literal and metaphorical act of constructing presence: a process of determining what can be retained, obscured, remembered and made to belong. He is a two-time recipient of The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award (2021, 2023).
The Nixon Collection, London, UK.
EDUCATION
Royal College of Art (2021 - 2023)
Leeds Arts University (2017 - 2020)
Royal Drawing School (2016 - 2017)