E-mail: isaraliyski@gmail.com
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ivaylo saraliyski
is a visual artist, researcher, and educator based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Working at the intersection of symbolic systems, digital art, ornament, and emerging technologies, he develops a practice rooted in Tarot, mysticism, and esoteric image culture.
Saraliyski approaches Tarot as a living archive of archetypes – symbols that persist by constantly changing form. His research, developed through his PhD dissertation, examines how images migrate across time and how meaning mutates in contemporary visual circulation, where symbols are copied, detached, fragmented, and re-coded at scale.
Using constraints, repetition, ornament, and controlled variation, he constructs images and objects as tests, probing the point where a sign remains legible while slipping into ambiguity. His practice moves between digital images, prints, engraved surfaces, plexiglass objects, and installations, using transparency, reflection, colour, and shadow as active elements of meaning.
Beyond his studio practice, Saraliyski teaches as a Chief Assistant Professor at New Bulgarian University, where he researches and lectures on visual arts and symbolic systems. Across his artistic and academic work, he investigates how ancient knowledge is reimagined through contemporary tools, and how images shape perception, identity, and power.
education
BA Printmaking
National Academy of Arts
2012–2016
MA Poster and Visual Communication
National Academy of Arts
2016–2018
MA Advertising and Brand Management
New Bulgarian University
2018–2020
PhD in Visual and Plastic Arts
New Bulgarian University
2021–2023
exhibitions
2026 – Participation in the exhibition “Prints & Images” by students and alumni of the BA in Visual Arts program at New Bulgarian University, UniArt Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2025 – Participation in the exhibition “General setting”, The Union of Bulgarian Artists (UBA), Sofia, Bulgaria
2025 – Participation in the exhibition “Entropy, Energy, Ecstasy” of the lecturers from NBU, Department of Arts and Design, at nOva arts space, Sofia, Bulgaria
2025 – Participation in the SAW (Sofia Art Week) 8, Doza Gallery & Krasno Selo Municipal Cultural Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria
2025 – Participation in the experimental contemporary art festival Buna. In collaboration with Darina Naydenova, New Ventura space, Varna, Bulgaria
2025 – Participation in the exhibition "A/POLITICAL" organised by The artist at play, Bobina Cultural space, Sofia, Bulgaria
2024 – Participation in the “Symbiosis” Exhibition of Faculty from the Department of Arts and Design, New Bulgarian University, “Boris Hristov” Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2024 – “Bringing Art to Life”, Pop-up Art Exhibition in Collaboration with The Blacks Agency, Sofia, Bulgaria
2024 – Participation in the Autumn Salon, Rusy Karabiberov Gallery, Nova Zagora, Bulgaria
2024 – Participation in the Virtual Exhibition “Infinity”, Florence Contemporary Gallery, Florence, Italy
2024 – Participation in the Virtual Exhibition “Synergy”, The Alchemical Art Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2022 – Participation in the Dare-Zine Magazine Exhibition, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022 – “THE BIG SCAN/M”, Joint Exhibition with Pavlina Obretenova, Dosa Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022 – Participation in the Exhibition “The Secret Garden”, Little Bird Place Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2021 – Participation in the Exhibition of Faculty, PhD Students, and Students – “Forms of Communication”, Dosa Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2020 – Participation in the 115th Anniversary Exhibition of the Graphics Department, Academy Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2019 – Participation in the 8th National Triennale of Graphic Arts, UBA, Sofia, Bulgaria
2017 – Participation in the Exhibition “Inside – Outside”, Union of Bulgarian Artists (UBA), Sofia, Bulgaria
2016 – Participation in “Students and Lecturers Exhibition of the Printmaking Department at NAA”, Warsaw, Poland
2016 – Participation in the 9th Edition of the International Festival of Young Artists Via Pontica, Balchik, Bulgaria
2015 – Internship and Participation in Exhibition, ARTBOX Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2014 – First Graphic Workshop at TU, Sofia, Bulgaria
2013 – Charity Exhibition “Let’s Restore the Shine of 2013”, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral-Memorial, Sofia, Bulgaria