We had the good fortune of connecting with Nadya Lambreva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nadya, how do you think about risk?
Risking and getting out of my comfort zone have played a huge role in my life and professional path! At an early age, I decided that I wanted to expose myself to the world and its endless surprises and opportunities. At twenty-three, my homeland Bulgaria became small for my future vision, so I decided to find wider horizons. Started traveling across the globe to pursue my passions and the life I will be so excited to wake up to. I guess being a risk taker has always been in my blood.

During my travels I worked in the fashion and event industry and in parallel I’ve been developing my craft. I took the decision to put myself out there while trying to overcome my fear of judgment which is so natural to all of us. For instance, I found the opportunity to be a part of a big fashion show and because of it I shared my work with a wider audience along with some worldwide famous designers. That brought a lot of pressure but I took on the challenge and my reward for taking the risk was a very successful show. Two years ago, I took the biggest leap of faith and moved to Los Angeles with two suitcases and without knowing a single soul in the City of Angels. I followed my intuition as I wanted to be around creative energy and there is definitely a lot of it here.
This is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and I am so glad that I trusted my inner voice. After traveling for so many years all over the world, I feel like I found my place. This was one of the many life situations that proved to me the importance of being brave, taking risks and following your heart. Life is too short to settle for things that don’t inspire us or don’t set our souls on fire!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Art is therapy and it’s a channel for me to express myself. The intention of my work is to create a safe space for other people to express their inner worlds through what they wear and through art. I believe we are all unique in our own ways and what I strive to do with my wearable art is to challenge more of us to be ourselves in a world full of many copies. I use textile and acrylic paint to customize shoes and ready-to-wear, but I also create paintings mostly with oil and acrylic paint. When it comes to the wearables, I try to use mostly vintage pieces. Our clothes are slowly turning into the hidden monsters in our closets, because of the impact of fast fashion. Textile waste is on the rise and if there are any ways to be more sustainable, we should try to do so.

I am excited about what’s to come and the times we live in. The paradigms are shifting and more people question the old narratives. Through our past, art has always been a big part of change because it has the property to invoke emotion and challenge the mind. I am very glad to be here for this shift and to contribute to it in some shape or form using my craft. I am most proud of the fact that because of creativity I am able to tap into my true self. Was that path easy? The most important things in life never are. When I was alone in a new country, art was there for me. When no one was around to support me emotionally, art was there for me. When I came to Los Angeles without anyone to hold me, my art held me tight. So, now it’s my turn to show up for my craft and overcome the fears in order to share my gift with whoever is there to see it.
Living a creative life beyond fear is not easy, but it’s very rewarding and the only path to achieve the goal is hard work, consistency and a belief. The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that you should be grateful, even for the challenges, because they prepare you for your highest path. I hope this inspires someone out there to grab the opportunity and live wholeheartedly. Each and every person has something special to offer to the world. So my wish is that we all find that gift and use it to be of service, but most importantly to embody our own truth!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Actually one of my best friends from Bulgaria is coming to visit soon, so I am beyond excited! First of all, I would love to show her the Getty Villa since it’s one of my favorite places, especially its garden on a sunny day. She likes museums, so I would definitely take her to LACMA. One of the biggest reasons why I moved to LA, is the beach! So I would love to take her on a bike ride in Hermosa or Manhattan beach which are my favorite spots when it comes to this type of activity. Then probably we could go for drinks at the rooftop in hotel Erwin, an amazing place during sunset. And that will be followed by a dinner at Watergrill in Santa Monica which is one of my favorite restaurants in the area. Another thing I would love to do with her while she is here is the Melrose Trading post, Korea town and maybe Death and Co which is one of my favorite cocktail bars in Downtown.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Thank you for this question. Getting to a certain point in life is always a combination of situations, people, places, the things you read, love and your background. I am very thankful for the challenges and even the people who doubted me along the way. This motivated me to keep pushing my artistic limits and to pursue the future self I’ve always imagined. When it comes to supportive people, my partner definitely gets the biggest shoutout along with my friends and my dad. And last but not least, the books I read have a huge impact on my creative life. One of my favorite ones that’s about art and creativity is ‘’Big Magic’’ by Elizabeth Gilbert and one of the books that has helped me the most with my personal growth is ‘’How to do the Work’’ by Dr. Nicole Le Perra.

Website: Coming soon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopelamber/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nadya.lambreva

Other: Tik Tok: hopelamberla

Image Credits
Samuel Chacon, Nishelle Walker, Raphael Umscheid, Hector Puig, Spencer Sun

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.