Kalina Mladenova Portfolio
I am a senior at Yale University double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Visual Art.
I love understanding how things work and finding ways to improve existing devices and create new ones. I want to innovate and create things that are beautiful and can help our everyday lives.
Outside of design and engineering, I illustrate for different Yale publications, write articles, and am the president of the Bulgarian Society.
My favourite animal is the hippo.
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Yale School of Art
New Haven, CT
Обред [Obred], a chair and a costume inspired by the Bulgarian tradition of Kukeri: "costumed Bulgarian men who perform traditional rituals intended to scare away evil spirits."
This work is an interpretation of the tradition and an exploration of how to integrate it into our daily lives.
By using an ordinary object as a chair, I intended to redefine the way we interact with that object and give it a new meaning. The chair is both a regular chair, and a costume that could be worn and danced in. When one sits on the chair, the bells attached to the sides jingle, mimicking the sounds that the kukeri make while dancing.
This object is made from bent and welded mild steel, sheep skin that used to cover my grandma’s couch, bells from Bulgaria, fabric, and yarn.
Обред is a part of the 2024 Undergaduate Thesis Show at the Yale School of Art, You are now the host, displayed from April 12 - 19, 2024 in
New Haven.
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