Damyan Doumanov
Projects
- Mechanical Morphologies, 2026
- The Fire Garden, 2026
- Pinograms, 2026
- Break Lines, 2026
- Mask, 2025
- Cowboys, 2025
- The Keys to Vacationland, 2025
- The Rainbow Hotel, 2025
Mechanical Morphologies, 2026
Mechanical Morphology №1, 2026,
Acrylic paint on warm-tone cardboard, 70x100 cm
Acrylic paint on warm-tone cardboard, 70x100 cm
Acrylic paint on warm-tone cardboard, 70x100 cm
Acrylic paint on warm-tone cardboard, 70x100 cm
Acrylic paint on warm-tone cardboard, 70x100 cm
This body of work investigates the aesthetic latency of technical schematics through large-scale paintings sourced from mechanical repair manuals. By executing micro-photographic extractions of these diagrams—frequently isolating fragments merely a centimeter in width—the imagery is projected and monumentalized onto a substrate of corrugated cardboard. The forms are subsequently rendered in black acrylic via a meticulous stippling technique, deliberately simulating the ink bleed and mechanical degradation inherent to commercial offset printing.
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The Fire Garden, 2026
The Fire Garden originates from ra series of high-speed exposures recording the turbulent core of a wood fire through a 200mm telephoto lens. Working at a distance to capture momentary thermal surges, the photographic process operated as a study in volatility, where composition and exposure remained inherently unpredictable. The resulting forms were revealed only through the retroactive process of chemical development.Read more
Pinogramms, 2026
This series explores the threshold between the photographic image and the sculptural object through a physical intervention with the silver gelatin print. Operating without a camera, the process begins by methodically piercing the photographic paper with ballhead pins. Through this tactile engagement, the paper is transformed from a passive receptor of light into an active, three-dimensional matrix, with the pins carefully curated to create precise geometric arrangements across the surface.
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Break Lines, 2026
Break Lines (2026) appropriates the utilitarian vernacular of mechanical schematics, utilizing extreme macro photography to isolate specific diagrams from a motorcycle repair manual. By extracting these technical drawings from their instructional context, the work forces a hyper-focused reexamination of the drafted marks, elevating overlooked industrial ephemera into the realm of formal abstraction.
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Mask, 2025
Mask (2025) investigates the psychological intersections of landscape and perception. Photographing outward through a carved cave window, the composition utilizes the jagged architectural aperture as a natural framing device to isolate a specific exterior rock formation. Through this precise topographical alignment, the weathered stone undergoes an anthropomorphic shift, its deep fissures and heavy volumes coalescing into a monumental face.
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Cowboys, 2025
Cowboys (2025) references photographic materialism and cultural appropriation, utilizing the ephemeral detritus of mass consumption as its primary matrix. In this series, the transparent cellophane wrappers of Marlboro cigarette packs, faintly printed with the iconic, commercialized imagery of the American West, are repurposed as improvised photographic negatives. Placed directly into the carrier of a darkroom enlarger, these discarded plastic skins are projected onto traditional black-and-white silver gelatin paper, collapsing the distance between commercial packaging and formal fine art printmaking.
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The Keys to Vacationland, 2025
The Keys to Vacationland (2025) is a sculptural assemblage which utilizes the readymade to navigate the complex socio-political intersections of labor and borders. The work comprises six chromatically vibrant, unbitted (uncut) keys, arranged formally within the sterile boundaries of a frame. Found in the basement of a hotel in Maine—a state famously branded by its official moniker as "Vacationland"—these objects are artifacts drawn directly from the hidden, working-class infrastructure of the American hospitality industry.
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The Rainbow Hotel, 2025
The Rainbow Hotel, 2025
Silver gelatin print, 156 x 115 cm
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