L’ARTE DI POLINA STOYCHEVA

Biografia

Polina Stoycheva is a Bulgarian artist and illustrator, born in Varna in 2002.
Working in acrylic, she brings detailed observation of wildlife into compositions
with a symbolic, sometimes surreal atmosphere. Her paintings give particular
attention to fur, light and the expressions of animals. Domestic textiles and
golden objects appear alongside her subjects, inviting reflections on protection,
intimacy and the vulnerability of living beings.
Her academic background includes BA (Hons) Graphic Design at the University of Sunderland, where she
studied from 2021 to 2024, and master’s studies in Media and Communication Studies: Culture,
Collaborative Media, and Creative Industries at Malmö University.
Stoycheva began exhibiting as a child. Her first solo exhibition, held at the Palace of the Happy People in
Sofia in 2015, presented 40 works. In 2017 she presented Make Life Count at Chervenata Tochka Gallery in
Sofia, followed by the online solo exhibition Raw & Gentle at VIVID Art Gallery in June 2026. Her group
exhibitions include Life Is Colours in Ferrara, Italy, in 2016, where she was the only participant under 18, and
the Sunny Children charity exhibition at MitoArt Gallery in Sofia in September 2026.
Her distinctions include the grand prize in the Leonardo competition in 2016, second prize in the national
competition Tesla – The Artist Engineer in 2017, and third prize in the European Art Awards, which brought
together participants from eight European countries.
Alongside painting, she works in book illustration. Her projects include illustrations for Daniela Dobreva’s
poetry collection Timelessness in Transience (2016) and the cover of To My Mother Syria by Dayan Shaer
(2017). She is scheduled to participate in ArtePadova in Padua, Italy, in November 2026.