Antoaneta Hillman is showing an exhibit of encaustic abstract paintings titled Connected through White in the Eisemann Center’s Green Mezzanine-Gallery. The exhibit will continue from December 10, 2015 through January 24, 2016. Antoaneta Melnikova-Hillman is a self-taught artist. She considers herself to be half Bulgarian, half Russian and 36 percent American. At the age of eighteen Antoaneta began experimenting with oils. Her works first appeared in group exhibitions, and later individually, in Bulgaria. More recently, she exhibited her works in Cyprus with a series of paintings dedicated to women and love. Her paintings are in private collections in Bulgaria, Italy, Cyprus and the United States. In 2001, Melnikova-Hillman became accustomed to a new home and culture here in America, where she continues her career as an artist.

Connected Through White – Artist’s Statement

“When I think about communication between people, I think about the absence of communication. For me this is an important subject because I believe that most of the problems of today’s world are created by the lack of sufficient communication. Words can heal, words can destroy. And words can bring peace or war. My focus, in creating Connected Through White, was on the absence of words, on the forgotten language of the universe. I use my fascination with the color white to support the concept because white is the color of beginning and of freedom. All of us have strong attachments to both concepts.

The sum of all the colors is white. It is the connection of all the things existing in harmony. The color white is the first single color and we are connected through the divine light and energy of this color from the beginning of the world. We carry parts of this light deep inside of us, most of the time without realizing it. White stands for yes. The opposite, black, is the absence of color. For me, the color white is the color of communication because in its appearance, I see an assurance of wholeness, completion and goodness.”