Manoela Grigorova: Environmentally Conscious Embroidery
Manoela Grigorova’s mixed-media textile work is not only visually compelling to look at, but often tells a deeper story of environmental impact. Using upcycled fibers in combination with alcohol ink and intricate beading, Manoela stitches together unique compositions inspired by coral reefs, microscopic structures, and patterns found in nature. Through her work, Manoela invites the viewer to contemplate the beauty of our natural surroundings, and how our choices affect the environment on a larger scale.
Tell me about your background and where your creative journey began.
Creativity has been a part of my life since I have known myself. Born in the 1980s in Bulgaria, under the veil of the Iron Curtain, if I wasn’t playing outside, I could be found drawing, painting, sewing and making things with my hands. My mother, a meteorologist and my father, a geologist, but with bags of creativity. Unsatisfied with the lack of resources and choice available in a Communist country, they made their own furniture and hand-crafted décor. My mother sewed, knit, crocheted, and made all sorts to make our home that little bit more lovely and different. To put into context, during that time, choice was a luxury. Brands and products from ‘The West’ such as Western music, bananas, Coca Cola etc.. was deemed ‘the evil of the West’!
In contrast, Bulgaria, one of the oldest countries of Europe was rich with colour, culture, traditions, bold textiles, and ornate rugs hung on the walls like art (for me it was art, but mostly it was for insulation purposes against the bitter winters).
Fast forward to 1991 and the fall of the Berlin wall, my parents made the difficult decision to leave family and friends and took my brother and me on a ‘holiday’ to the UK.
At school, I was the kid saying “when I grow up I’m going to be in Vogue”, drawing fashion illustrations in my Maths workbooks and anywhere else I could. I was so obsessed that with a lack of textiles as a subject, I took an extra art qualification, so I had art lessons 3 times a week! I would sneak in fashion design in my projects, once making ‘fabric’ out of coloured tissue paper and PVA glue. Once dry and transparent, I cut it into patterns and sewed it into a dress, somehow flogging it as an art project and even got a good grade! I then went on to study Fashion Design at college and then at university. Things changed though, somehow, I became disillusioned with the reality of the fashion world and the industry. I left university in my first year, it was a sad time because I saw a life-long dream collapse.
And so, I got a regular job. For the next 10 years, I worked as a hairdresser (with a difference), working with people with severe hair loss. It was magical work and life-changing for the clients. It gave me the creativity I craved. I got to work with my hands, and I got to help people at the same time. Building a head of hair, a process similar to wig-making, is time-consuming, meticulous, and meditative: when I look back, the process was very similar to weaving and embroidery.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Honestly everywhere! But first and foremost, I start with the materials I already have!
I’m particularly interested in contrasts and contradictions; pulling ideas from my experiences, such as the stark differences between my childhood in Bulgaria and the UK, and my love of nature and fashion, two things that don’t always go together.
I’m guided into directions mostly intuitively but it’s usually always a slow and meditative process. It’s a cliché but it is a healing process and helps me deal with the ever-changing world, working through emotions, slowly, with every stitch.
I’m heavily influenced by nature which may be intrinsically linked to growing up with a meteorologist, geologist and my brother who majored in oceanography! Natural patterns, textures, microscopic structures, corals, geological layers and patterns are often a theme. As I got older, and particularly after my travels, I found that nature is playing more on my mind. On one side, as an artist, you’re constantly creating ‘new stuff’ but being conscious of the impact on the environment, I try to use as much salvaged material as possible. I hoard everything! I try to use what I have before buying from new to keep as much as possible out of the landfill. The materials themselves inspire me and I work by letting the layers play out the narrative. The limitation also brings another layer of challenge which in itself sparks creativity.
My travels around Asia cemented the theme of opposites and a sort of love/hate idea; a love of colours, artisanal works, traditional embroideries and weavings and a disdain for the fashion industry after seeing the heinous destruction of our natural environment with my own eyes. I intend to evoke emotions around our dwindling natural world in an abstract way.
These ideas of contrasts and contradiction are mirrored in my work; the fast flow of alcohol ink compared to the slow and steady embroidery work, the smooth nature of Yupo paper and defining lines of the ink compared to the soft and tactile feel of layers of fibre.
I would say Surrealism, Pointillism and Abstract Expressionism also really inspire me. Artists like Jackson Pollock and Jean Michel Basquiat in particular. In some of my pieces, I try to emulate Basquiat’s seemingly chaotic mark making but with my medium of choice – fibre!
How has your work shifted and evolved over time?
I think sometimes things just come right around full circle! My works of the last year and a half have gone through an amalgamation of all my experiences in a style I like to call ‘Poised Chaos’, chaotic but considered.
After I left uni and got into the world of work (in what I thought was an unrelated sector of hairdressing), my creative releases would only come sporadically at low points, gaps between jobs when I had time. Creativity became my sanctuary at different crossroads in my life, whether I was making art, jewelry or simply trying different mediums.
In my 20s, I made rope wrapped necklaces when I inherited a huge box of threads from my grandmother, some of which might be up to 40 years old. I also used salvaged and broken jewelry to create new pieces. In another sporadic burst of creative release, I started experimenting with alcohol inks, loving the abstract look, fast flow, directionality and defining lines.
But it’s only really in the last 2 years that my creative practice has taken a front seat and found direction and focus. I had already started embroidering a little but in 2019 but it wasn’t until the year after that my process started to develop.
2020 changed everything. In March, my father was taken ill and ended up in hospital on oxygen, with Covid 19. A few days later, my mum succumbed to the disease, with lesser symptoms but on her own, and wouldn’t let me visit her because she was so afraid that I would catch it. We didn’t know if my dad would make it, he was in the hospital, where it was so chaotic and you could barely hear any news! I feared my mum would be next to be hospitalized! It was a dark time and on top of it all, I was put on furlough from work. With all this extra time on my hands, my creative sanctuary came to the rescue.
Day after day, I would wake up early to catch up with everyone and make sure they were all close to OK, my mother in our family home, my father in the hospital, my brother in Denmark and then I would obsessively stitch for the rest of the day. Unhappy with stitching on fabric, I took some of my alcohol ink experiments gone wrong and started poking holes through them. This was the beginning of the development of my current style of work. I was so overcome with worry for my parents, there wasn’t any space for self-doubt or judgement. So, I just kept poking holes! Day in day out, for 8 months of furlough!
I realized that the only way to move on and evolve is when you’ve let go of all self-doubt and judgment. My best work is when I fully immerse myself in my feelings and emotions and find the courage to explore mediums and add more elements.
Which experiences have impacted your work as an artist?
In a nutshell, 2020 and Covid. Before 2020, my creative outputs stayed hidden in the background, only coming out in spurts of obsessive activity during low times. I would always make excuses that I didn’t have enough time because I had a full-time job. Since November, back from furlough, and working full time at my job in an animal charity, I’ve found that actually, there is time because you make time. I’m thankful for that special gift of time I was given, to make me realise that life is too short for excuses. I have also found a direction in which to work towards.
My experiences in my jobs have also had a big impact. I realised with my hairdressing job, that I love working with my hands and I just can’t escape that feeling of wanting to make something so intricate, detailed and meticulous.
Becoming a member of the Society for Embroidered Works (SEW) has given me the drive to push forward with fibre and stitched art. For me, fibre is just another medium, like paint, ink and rather than stitching, beading being decorative, they are an integral part of the piece. Essentially, I want to create wondrous little worlds of colour to evoke a sense of joy, wonder and immersive escapism like snorkeling in a perfect coral reef and immersing yourself in the beautiful colours and textures, forgetting time and space. I also want the viewer to have an overwhelming feeling of wanting to touch the piece like I’ve always wanted to touch the paint textures of works in a gallery but have never been allowed to!
Last year, I entered an art competition, Sketch for Survival, run by the conservation charity Explorers Against Extinction. My piece ‘Glowing. Going, Gone.’ depicted the danger of bleaching caused to corals by climate change and the warming of our oceans. It was amazing to be chosen amongst hundreds of pieces to be exhibited in London’s Oxo Tower, as part of the competition. Unfortunately, the exhibition was cancelled due to lockdown, but it still felt amazing to be a fibre artist and be accepted as part of an art competition. That was real validation and it felt good!
What does a typical day in the studio look like for you, and how has your art practice grown or changed?
The biggest change is that I now create every day without making excuses. Even though I am back in my 9 to 5, Monday to Friday job, I make time for my artworks, during the evenings and at weekends. My studio is my home, on my dining room table, on the terrace or in my bag ready for stitching on a long train or car journey. I’ve combined most of my creative loves, from colourful textiles and textures I’ve seen on my travels and at home in Bulgaria, to upcycling jewelry to use as materials in my pieces, to stitching, embroidery and beading from my fashion background to painting from my love of art!
I would say though that my 9 to 5 does keep me balanced, it helps to keep that artists’ ego at bay. I work for an animal charity that aims to improve animal welfare but there is an element of international development, working in some of the poorest communities in the world. We see the real-time effects of climate change reaching the poorest people first from flooding to hurricanes. This is a constant reminder, how lucky we are, how lucky I am to live in the UK and not to take anything for granted. And to remember that during the depths of despair, I used my emotions to create positive, bold, energetic work.
How has Instagram impacted your art career?
Oh massively! It's the first platform I started using to share my art, once I plucked up the courage. The community is truly awesome and has been instrumental in giving me the confidence to put my work out there. I’ve got most of my commissions from Instagram and traffic to my Etsy page. I’ve found amazing people that have been so supportive. Some of the commissions have pushed me beyond what I thought was possible with my work.
What are your future goals and aspirations?
I’m still developing my creative style and voice, there’s still a lot to learn! Sorting out a studio space and website is probably on the top of the agenda. Having a dedicated space would mean I can go big with scale, get messy, paint more and immerse myself without distraction.
I’ve got more and more into collage work and want to keep exploring this. I also want to use my work to promote the use of salvage materials and our environment and to challenge myself in sourcing more recycled and sustainable materials. I would love to learn tambour work and implement faux hair into my work! Lots of ideas buzzing around in my head.
Going big with wishes, I would love to curate an exhibition, perhaps concentrating on Mixed Media or Fibre Art and to keep challenging the idea of ‘Stitched Art is Art’ and not just ‘Women’s Crafts’!
Follow Manoela on IG: mojoandmuse