spatial works
“Every work I create begins as a poem, even when it is never meant to be read.”
selected works
gallery
works · series · exhibitions
speculative design
painting
drawings
video
Content coming soon.
library
poetry · books · texts
visual poetry
poetry
books and poetry collections
papers and research
collage as a method of form-giving in design2026cultural tradition and new approaches to vessel form-giving in the context of symbol and sign2026 · първоначална публикация 2019possibilities of using CAD products and parametric design in sculpture / project “Torch of Knowledge” /2015symbolic sculpture / 70 years of TU–Sofia /2015the colour of the narrative2016
creative concept
Poetry is the way I think.
Poetry is the way I think. Before a form comes into being, there is a word. Before material acquires volume, there is rhythm, silence, pause, and an inner image. I do not see poetry as a separate artistic discipline, but as a way of thinking from which every work I create originates.
I do not illustrate my poems. Instead, I translate their inner logic into space. I am interested in the moment when language ceases to function merely as a means of communication and begins to exist as form, light, material, and movement. This transition—from word to matter, from language to space, and from thought to presence—forms the foundation of my work.
I work with ceramics, paper, metal, glass, and light. Each material carries its own character, memory, and temporality. The fragility of porcelain, the resistance of metal, the lightness of paper, and the reflective qualities of transparent surfaces are not simply physical properties; they are distinct ways through which language can assume a tangible presence.
My work explores the relationship between language, matter, and presence. Projects such as Architecture of Words and Reflection are not separate bodies of work but chapters of the same artistic inquiry. They investigate how language can become architecture, how silence can acquire material form, and how space can preserve what words alone cannot contain.
Rather than conveying fixed meanings, my works create conditions for personal encounters and multiple interpretations. They invite viewers to recognise fragments of themselves through material, memory, and imagination. Meaning is not embedded in the object itself; it emerges through the relationship between the artwork and the person who experiences it.
My education as a ceramic artist and my long-standing work as a lecturer in Form-Giving have shaped my understanding of structure, construction, and material thinking. Poetry has taught me that every structure possesses an invisible dimension—memory, emotion, silence, and time. My artistic research unfolds within this dialogue between structure and freedom, where material does not illustrate thought but allows it to become present.
I believe that an artwork is never completed at the moment it is made. It begins again each time someone encounters it. When words fall silent, form continues the conversation.
Artist Statement · Emilia Ochkova-Dimitrova
teaching and student projects
Form as a way of thinking
Teaching is a continuation of my artistic and research practice. In the learning process, form is approached as the result of observation, experimentation, structural reasoning and material inquiry. The aim is for each student to develop an independent method and an informed position.
01
second year
form-giving
From the initial idea and three-dimensional experiment towards a considered form. Assignments develop composition, proportion, rhythm and scale, together with the relationship between structure, material and human perception.
view the course on the department website ↗02
third year
structures in design
An exploration of how structural logic, joints, loads and material behaviour shape the form, stability and use of a designed object.
view the course on the department website ↗03
fourth year
photography practicum
Photography as observation, visual research and an independent form of artistic expression. The work addresses composition, light, narrative and the development of a coherent photographic series.
photography practicum · student projects
about
Emilia Ochkova-Dimitrova
Bulgarian visual artist, poet, researcher, and university lecturer, born in Sofia in 1975.
In 1999, she received a Master of Arts in Ceramics from the National Academy of Art in Sofia, in the studio of Prof. Bozhidar Bonchev. In 2016, she completed a PhD in Engineering Design at the Technical University of Sofia with the dissertation “Collage in Design: Form-Giving through the Prism of Collage”.
Her artistic practice encompasses ceramics, porcelain, paper, metal, glass, plexiglass, photography, painting, drawing, and light. Her work explores the relationship between language, matter, memory, and human presence.
Poetry forms the foundation of her creative process. Each work begins as language, rhythm, or an inner image before taking material form. Her projects examine the transition from word to space and the ways in which text can become object, architecture, and experience.
She is the author of poetry books and visual-poetry projects including Rainy Geometry, Unspoken Mosaics, and Whether Or.
She has participated in solo and group exhibitions, international projects, academic forums, and artistic initiatives in Bulgaria and abroad.
She has been with the Technical University of Sofia since 2002 and has held the position of Senior Assistant Professor since 2017. She teaches Form-Giving and art disciplines in the Department of Engineering Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Her teaching, research, and artistic practice form a single process in which construction, material, language, and human perception meet.
education
2016
PhD in Engineering Design
Technical University of Sofia Dissertation: “Collage in Design: Form-Giving through the Prism of Collage”
1999
Master of Arts in Ceramics
National Academy of Art, Sofia Studio of Prof. Bozhidar Bonchev
academic position
since 2017
Senior Assistant Professor
Department of Engineering Design Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technical University of Sofia · with the university since 2002
artistic practice
Working across ceramics, paper, metal, glass and light, she explores the transformation of poetry into spatial form. Her installations investigate the relationship between language, material and embodied presence, creating spaces where text becomes architecture and matter carries memory.
selected solo exhibitions
2024
Swinging
Regional History Museum Sofia Sofia, Bulgaria
selected group exhibitions
2025
Festival of Contemporary Bulgarian Ceramics
Union of Bulgarian Artists Sofia • Oreshak • Stara Zagora
2025
50 Years of the Troyan School of Applied Arts
National Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, Oreshak
2025
PhotoColor — “Cultural Heritage: Studies in Red”
Sofia • Nessebar
selected projects
Architecture of Words
Interactive spatial installation. Laser-engraved transparent acrylic (plexiglass), stainless steel and 3D-printed connectors. Poetry is translated into architectural space through engraved transparent planes.
Reflection I
Spatial installation. Red earthenware clay modules, transparent laser-engraved acrylic (plexiglass) and 3D-printed figures. An exploration of transparency as a space where memory, perception and presence coexist.
Reflection II
Spatial installation. Red earthenware clay modules, cast resin, clear and smoked acrylic (plexiglass), mirrored base and 3D-printed figures. An exploration of reflection as a dialogue between material, memory and human perception.
Swinging
Spatial installation. Dark-firing stoneware, acrylic (plexiglass), wood and mirrored acrylic. An exploration of balance, vulnerability and inner transformation through suspended forms.
selected publications
2026
Tactile Presence: Empathy, Reflection and Speculative Design in Post-Digital Art
Proceedings of the ECT Lab Conference 2026 (forthcoming).
2025
Modern Bulgarian Ceramics: Unity and Eclecticism / Festival of Contemporary Bulgarian Ceramics 2025
Proceedings of the XIII International Scientific Conference “Modern Technologies for Cultural Heritage”. Colour Group Bulgaria. ISSN 2367-6523.
2025
The Formality of the Line: Formalism and Phenomenological Analysis of the Line. Connections with Digital Design in Art and Design
Proceedings of the National Scientific Conference “Digital Technologies in Architecture, Design and Visual Arts”. New Bulgarian University. ISSN 2815-5211.
2024
Poetry and Space: “A Game of Thought – A Game of Form”. Transforming Text into Spatial Art Installations
Design & Applied Arts. Proceedings of the Scientific Conference “Design and Education”, National Academy of Art, Sofia. ISSN 2815-4932.
2024
Form-Giving: Transformation of Text into Spatial Art Installations
Proceedings of the XII International Scientific Conference “Modern Technologies for Cultural Heritage”. Colour Group Bulgaria, pp. 282–288. ISSN 2367-6523.
memberships
2026–present
Union of Bulgarian Artists (SBH)
2013–present
Colour Group Bulgaria
Bulgarian member of the International Colour Association (AIC)
2013–present
Scientific and Technical Union
Section Ergonomics and Industrial Design
contact
For exhibitions, publications and professional enquiries:
ochkova@gmail.com