Despite the ugliness of everyday life, there is something in us which stays beautiful forever.

No, this is not a quote from a novel, this is the motto of the textile exhibition by Lily Wermuth, which opened on the fourth floor of the Gallery of Bulgarian Artists last Friday. The exhibit, named Despite, offers a journey through the different periods in the artistic life of the prominent artist.

Colourful decorative tapestry can be seen next to blankets and carpets, and the walls of the gallery have been decorated with mixtures of cotton, wool, linen and metal. The artist shows preference for simple design rather than an abundance of elements. Her works present an entertaining play with different geometric forms with an underlined preference for circular motifs.

"In my work, I do what is close to my heart," Wermuth said, pointing out that her works are not simply for decoration. "There is a particular thought and idea behind all of them."

"Biography - Descending from Parnassus," for example, is an abstract representation of the artist's life. "The white, lighter part of the work is my childhood which was fantastic," she explained, moving her hand along the textile work. "After my 20th birthday, though, my life changed and this could be seen in the work," she added, as she pointed to a part of the work dominated by darker texture.

"This is an experience which could be expressed in painting as well, but I chose to show it that way."

Another repetitive theme in Wermuth's textile pieces is music. The artist played the violin when she was younger and grew up in a very musical family. "For me, music is the zenith in our life, the unreachable zenith," she said. "I cannot imagine the world without music. I always work with music on."

Wermuth is one of the pioneers in the sphere of Bulgarian textile. The 77-year-old was among the artists who founded the Textile Section within the Union of Bulgarian Artists in 1953. Even though she graduated from the National Academy of Art in 1949 with a major in painting, soon after finishing school she turned to textile.

"At that time in Bulgaria, this new art form - textile - started gathering speed and developing," she said. "This sphere of art offered much more freedom. Artists were much more independent, they could do whatever they wanted to in this decorative art. It was also very interesting, because at that time textile was used for something more than simply making clothes."

Wermuth was the first artist to produce a solo textile exhibition in Bulgaria in 1963. Early in her career, she introduced themes from the history and archeology of Bulgaria to her work. "And they turned out very successful," she said with pride.

Later, the artist went through periods of making tapestry and large-scale textile works. The latest pieces are small textile sculptures which offer a more abstract view of what can be done out of textile fabrics. "This gives me great pleasure," she said.

She decided to call the exhibition Despite in order to juxtapose the problems and worries of all Bulgarians nowadays, with the fact that she managed to ignore all that and to enjoy herself all the time.

"Now, after calling the exhibition Despite - trying to show the beauty of art despite the negativism all around us - I received so much love from people who came to see the works," she said with her eyes filling with tears of happiness. "I started believing after all that the good is much more than the evil in the world."

Despite is on display at 6 Shipka Street until November 14.