ABOUT her
Katiyana Nova is a Bulgarian-Greek artist based in Austin whose work explores the unspoken mess of identity, growth, and transformation. Through bold textures of oil, acrylic, and plaster, she builds faces and forms that hover between recognition and abstraction — meditations on what it means to become. Her art is driven by a deep search for self, shaped by a life of constant movement and change.
Her face series reflects the layered process of self-discovery — where belonging, loss, and rebirth coexist in silence. Each work holds traces of destruction and renewal, revealing beauty in the fragments of change. From the chaos of vibrant colors, a face emerges — and with it, a soul. The artist regards her face paintings as beings she gives life to — reflections of the emotional worlds they are born from.
Process & vision
The Faces: Each piece is created through intuition rather than intention — the final face is never known until it reveals itself. When oil is used, between twenty and thirty layers are applied before the work is left in its completion. When acrylic is chosen, the process unfolds through five to fifteen layers. Every surface is built, erased, and reimagined until emotion takes form. Nothing is forced; the work evolves in silence until the soul within it is seen. A sense of connection is meant to be felt — something familiar yet unspoken is intended to arise within the viewer. The faces within the work are not portrayed as portraits, but as reflections of emotion, memory, and transformation. Fragments of humanity are revealed through color and form.
Sculpture Plaster: Plaster-soaked fabric is applied to a live model, forming a cast that captures the body’s contours. Once dried, the piece is removed and sewn into canvas, uniting sculpture and painting in one form. The plaster captures a moment of stillness — where softness and strength coexist. The body is preserved in its most human form, stripped of pretense, leaving only honesty and presence to be felt.