Antonia Dimitrova (b. 1985, Sofia, Bulgaria; living and working in Miami) uses intermodal process, to catalyze dialogues that explore tensions between lived experience and human longing. She layers movement, sound, written word and image, to process personal memories and experiences, giving voice to new narratives of awareness, growth, reconciliation and deepened spirituality.
The nomadic experience of living in Bulgaria, Nigeria, Canada and the United States before age 7 shaped the lens through which Dimitrova viewed herself, others and the arts, from very young. After settling in Miami, Florida, the many cultural, relational and financial contrasts between her Bulgarian family and those around her led to frequent social and peer isloation, and she began to identify as an “outsider”. She pursued belonging, however her early pursuits in classical ballet and piano were cut short by the demand for competitive achievement over a true connection to the spirit of the art.
Early visual art training at a magnet elementary school (1995 – 1997) offered Dimitrova her first opportunity to explore materials in safety and to process freely through the visual arts, with authentically self-reflective work. As a result, her personal narrative moved within the recurring theme of the tension between rejection and acceptance, not only in relationships with others, but also in relationship to herself and her creative process – her life-dance. At university, she pursued an Art History degree at first, but could not resist the call of the art studios where she primarily engaged with printmaking: the discipline of printmaking taught her the significance of creative process as one that can bring both personal healing and transformation. Then some years later, an encounter with the movement practice of Argentine Tango impacted her understanding of the body in relationship to creative process and her personal narrative. Although she spent many years after college working in a high-end interior design firm, her mounting creative restlessness and curiosity about the transformative creative process inevitably propelled her into the study of Expressive Arts.
Today, Antonia lives and works primarily in Miami, while pursuing seasonal residencies internationally. Her current work continues to express narratives on belonging, identity, home and family by exploring memory, cycles of time and the sense of place. Through both her personal practice as well as the practice of facilitating intermodal creative process with others, she desires to serve as a change agent in the world, inspiring the telling of old and new stories through the arts – beginning with those closest to her and stretching as far as her work will reach.
Dimitrova has a Bachelor of Arts in Printmaking and Art History from Wheaton College, MA and is a certified facilitator of Intermodal Expressive Arts through the Expressive Art Institute in Sarasota, FL. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Expressive Arts for Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding at the European Graduate School in Switzerland, with pioneers in the field, including Paolo Knill, Margo Fuchs-Knill and Melinda Meyer. She has also studied with influential professors at New World School of the Arts College, in Miami, FL and the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, MA, as well as participated in independent workshops on movement with Ana and Daria Halprin. Her visual work is part of the Wheaton College Permanent Collection as well as several private collections in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Florida. She is also the founder of several groups for creative collaboration in Miami, FL and continues to pioneer connections between spirituality and creative expression within her local community.