Stanka Tsonkova- Usha- concept, photography, video
Boryana Petkova – performance, video credit- Petr Schponka
Тhe project LUPA is a collaboration between two Bulgarian artists: Usha, a 72 years old photographer and Boryana Petkova, a 39 years old performance artist based in Paris. The word LUPA meaning “she-wolf” in Latin refers both to the nurturing figure who nursed Romulus and Remus and woman perceived as a predator or prostitute in ancient Rome. Through this ambivalent figure the project explores the multifaceted image of woman beyond time, age, color, ethnicity and gender, her past reborn to future as the beginning of life with no end.
Through the means of photography and performance, the project emphasizes the intersection of personal and shared experiences across generations, touching on themes such as motherhood, femininity, love and resilience. LUPA delves into the complex and dual nature of femininity, striving to achieve universal impact by reflecting the diverse dimensions of the feminine essence and to awaken a sense of timelessness and continuity in the female experience.
The fusion of performance and photography creates a transformative “third image”- an artistic alchemy that is stronger and different from the two media when taken separately. In this process the captured image and the lived moment merge giving birth to a new, more powerful narrative. This ‘third image’ transcends both mediums, offering a deeper and more layered exploration of the complexity, duality and timelessness of femininity. In the process of creation, performance and photography exist in complete symbiosis. The resulting image
becomes a synthesis where narrative and vision merge into a single body – Woman LUPA – Giver of Life!
