ABOUT  the contemporary visual artist

Daniela Atanasova (born in 1977 in Ruse, Bulgaria) is a visual artist with more than 25 years of artistic practice. She is based and works in Ocean City, New Jersey, USA. Her work explores abstract visual language, landscape, figurative elements, and symbolic imagery that reflect the complexity of human inner states.

​

Atanasova received a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts Education with a specialization in Painting from Veliko Tarnovo University St. Cyril and St. Methodius, The Faculty of Fine Arts. Her master’s thesis, “The Symbol and the Human in the European Gothic West,” examined the relationship between symbolism and the human in late medieval art — an interest in metaphor and layered interpretation that continues to inform her work.

​

Before pursuing her university education, she studied fashion design and apparel pattern making at the Technical High School for Clothing and Fashion Design in Ruse, Bulgaria (1991–1995), where she developed an early sensitivity to form, structure, and aesthetic composition, along with strong drawing skills.

In 2002–2003, Atanasova completed an international art internship in Ocean City, New Jersey, USA, through the Council on International Educational Exchange under the mentorship of artist Bobbi Heisman. The program concluded with her participation in the group exhibition “No Beach Tag Required” at Sagemore Gallery Ocean City in 2003.

​

Alongside her professional work as a fashion designer and pattern maker for Paruchev Fashion House in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, she maintained an independent studio practice in painting.

​

Since relocating permanently to the United States in 2016, Atanasova has exhibited regularly with the Ocean City Fine Arts League and received Honorable Mention awards in 2017 and 2025. Her move to the United States marked an important turning point in her artistic development, opening new creative possibilities and encouraging her to explore a wider range of media and themes.

​

Her work is held in many private collections in the United States, Bulgaria, and the United Kingdom.