“A Balkan mountain child and a young arts protege who grew up to become a world renown contemporary artist with a PhD in art history. Iva Troj grew up in the outskirts of Bulgaria’s Romani slums in the last decade of communism – a world full of sexual predators, communist propaganda, censorship and no path to artistic livelihood other than what she could imagine in her wildest dreams. Today, she is a Gerety Award winner and 3 times Cannes Lions nominee for her Halo Masterpiece [biggest ever launch in the Halo franchise’s history, with more than 20M players, 520M reach], Towry Best of England Award winner, and 2 times Contemporary Art Excellence Artist of the Year award winner. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally and her work is in collections in the UK, France, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, China, United States and Japan. In 2021, her epic painting Halo Infinite Masterpiece was exhibited at Saatchi Gallery and The Louvre. In 2020, her paintings were included in a number of permanent museum exhibitions in South Asia, among them Haegeumgang Museum 해금강테마박물관 in South Korea. And in Sept 2022, she was invited to exhibit a body of work at The Louvre in Paris.

Troj obtained her first fine arts degree when she was just 17 years old. After completing two BA degrees and a master’s degree from the United States and Sweden, she was awarded an art history PhD title.

She is widely known for her fine art pieces which seamlessly merge Renaissance aesthetics and techniques with postmodern praxis. Her intensely detailed oil paintings achieve astonishing tricks of light and shade, as practiced by the great masters. Exhausted by a society in which women often feel vulnerable, threatened, or powerless, Troj recasts the fairer sex as powerful creatures, freed from the oppressive male gaze and placed within Edenic settings where they can revel in their own beauty and potential. Blending abstraction with figuration, the natural world with the urban landscape, dream with reality, Troj’s breathtakingly beautiful artworks achieve something truly unique, both in terms of aesthetics and concept.”
22Blocks Agency

Artist Statement

As a child, I was taught to question one-dimensional narratives, this instinct evolved from mere survival into a transformative foundation for my artistic identity. Much like my fellow creators, my works delve into personal experiences; yet, I’m driven to transcend the confines of the self, a compulsion ignited during my experiences traversing Cold War borders. Enduring the cultural scarcity of my Eastern European upbringing kindled an insatiable hunger for unadulterated creativity, infusing my work with an ever-restless spirit. Consequently, the subjects I explore extend beyond the realm of the personal, though my unique vantage point injects them with a distinct perspective. The art perpetually evolves, shedding old skins and defying its own conventions.

Every artist reaches a juncture where the allure of the tried and true beckons. I steadfastly combat this allure by channeling my explorations into series that encapsulate various paths, ensuring the motifs and themes remain under scrutiny without succumbing to a single visual style.

While rooted in tradition, my body of work employs traditional elements not to uphold an archaic sensibility, but as an intrinsic part of my artistic language. My origins in a communist nation, where hymns to machinery superseded humanity and nature fell victim to progress, contrast vividly with summers spent beside my grandmother, amidst hanging gardens and timeless narratives. These dichotomous realities have irreversibly merged in my psyche.

Inspired by the techniques of Old Masters, both from Western and Eastern Europe, particularly the Russian tradition, my style finds its roots. A childhood fascination with art books spanning the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Modernism instilled in me a perplexity: the portrayal of passive, powerless women with vacant gazes. This, in turn, ignited a fervent ambition to master painting, with the intent of reshaping classical motifs’ narratives—a goal I’ve fervently pursued, constantly rekindling my sense of awe.

Drawing from the Flemish methodology of layering delicate coats of paint beneath varnish, my technique mirrors a process that emphasizes the allure of beautiful imperfections and the perpetual cycle of renewal. These themes flow seamlessly through my artworks, becoming intrinsic threads woven into each canvas.

Awards:

3 x nominee for Cannes Lions Award for Halo Infinite Masterpiece 2022
Art Excellence Award 2020 해금강테마박물관] Haegeumgang Museum South Korea.
CAF Artist Of The Year 2019 (2d)
Contemporary Art Excellence Artist of The Year 2016
2016 Palm Award Winner
2013 Towry Best of England Award Winner