Her paintings illuminate any room and their mystic aura seems to take viewers over the bounds of the material world. Their toned-down hues carry a knowledge that seems to come from ancient times.

Lili Dimkova has selected 113 of her works recounting the story of her life, her career and the path she has trodden as an individual.

“This exhibition is a jubilee retrospection - it has been 50 years since I have been working in an endeavour to reach out to the light and beauty that is all around – in nature and inside us, humans,” says Lili Dimkova whose works are on display at the 6 Shipka St. art gallery in Sofia. “I have a whole cycle dedicated to names like Ivan Vazov, Cyril and Methodius, Vassil Levski, Nikola Vaptsarov…”

Lili Dimkova is the daughter of well-known herbal healer Petar Dimkov. Born in 1932, Lili graduated scenography at the Academy of Arts and has worked on the costumes for many a Bulgarian film. Paintings of hers have been exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Algiers, Morocco. She is a follower of the White Brotherhood, founded by Peter Deunov.

The portrait Lili Dimkova painted of her father has an intriguing history. It is now the centerpiece of the exhibition and the first thing visitors see as they enter. “Actually, it was as if I had seen the face of Peter Deunov standing next to me as I was painting it,” she says.

Lili Dimkova says when she was painting her other works she seemed to feel a mysterious force moving her hand. She dedicates particular attention to the eyes as an antechamber to the soul.

“It is the eyes that must be painted first, they are the windows to the soul,” Lili Dimkova says. “Through them we gain an insight into the purest, the best of human nature. I think we all carry the divine spark inside but sometimes it is more like embers covered in ash. Even so it can be reignited.”

In the world of today, so full of aggression, Lili Dimkova finds optimism and hope in all young people who believe they can do something to save the planet. That is why her latest painting is of a young woman with light in her eyes in which it is not difficult to read the appeal: Lord, help us preserve the nature of Mother Earth!

English version: Milena Daynova