To Be Reborn You First Have to Die a Little

To Be Reborn You First Have to Die a Little is a narrative shaped equally by the myths and legends of the Maya and the Aztecs and by the personal experiences of Laura Nestorova. The exhibition presents a series of ceramic works situated at the intersection of mythology and contemporary art, creating a dialogue between past and present, fiction and reality.

The Maya and the Aztecs believed that life and death were inseparably connected. The many deities they worshipped often embodied a dual nature—they were both creators and destroyers, capable of taking life as well as restoring it. Their myths are imbued with ideas of life’s cyclical nature, inevitable transformation, and the necessity of maintaining a balance between opposing forces.

The works Laura Nestorova presents at Charta Gallery constitute her graduating project at New Bulgarian University. The figures, inspired by and reinterpreting deities from Maya and Aztec myths and legends, are divided into two groups: colourful and monochrome. These represent the themes of ritual sacrifice and apocalypse, respectively.

Ritual sacrifice occupied a central place in the religious practices of both the Maya and the Aztecs. They believed that human blood sustained the balance of the cosmos and that the gods required offerings to preserve the order of the world. The apocalypse, in turn, was understood as a cyclical phenomenon—not as an absolute end, but as a necessary interruption and even destruction of one era, without which renewal and the continuation of life would not be possible.