I relate to baroque, gothic, and romantic era paintings, art forms, and architecture so much, but in the same time I was formed in a digital era, by a computer science education, so automatically I searched for a way to combine all these worlds I found so fascinating into one (if possible) more coherent format.

My art constantly dances between traditional and digital. Sometimes I even start it traditionally, then transform it through digital tools and techniques. Sometimes the process is reversed: I sketch an idea digitally, then decide to recreate it on canvas (or paper).

My favorite traditional art mediums are acrylics, followed by watercolor & ink, collage, and oil pastels. Digitally, I use a variety of multimedia mobile, iPad, and desktop apps and tools.

I picked up the love for painting (and drawing) to music because of my primary school music teacher in Iași. He would always ask us to draw what we felt while we listened to him playing classical (or modern) music on piano and acoustic guitar, and introducing us to various musical instruments and musical styles.

When I was in middle school I briefly attended public art classes at the local Youth Club, where, under the careful guidance of the kindest art professor, Constantin Tofan, I felt for the first time the dream of becoming an artist.

He told me that I was good with intricate details, but I needed to learn to not fear big, bold, brush strokes. It took me years to stop fearing the blank canvas and to take bigger risks in my practice, and I still do more often than not. Then, my art teacher’s encouraging words echo in my ears, and I challenge my fears.

After living for a decade in Unites States, a lot of my feelings towards art have grown bigger. I made going to art galleries and museums almost a ritual, and I always brought the same fondness I hold for art back to Romania. Hopefully, one day I will walk on the street and run into my art professor again, so I can ask him if he thinks I’ve finally overcome my fear of bold brushstrokes 🙂

I think since ancestry humans’ needs were to find themselves in something, but in the same time to have the space to express their own individuality. Hence why experimentation is so important in my work, and I find it so vital for my career happiness.

I’m constantly pulled towards rejection of predefined, pre-made, and neatly boxed expectations dictated by “our times” – because I believe that in order to have true creative vision and originality, one must be daring enough to think outside the box – ANY box – and to free oneself from the shackles of currents or trends.

The following is an experimental art video series I started for an upcoming new media art exhibition focused on the effects of noise pollution on our health and psyche. A quest for focus in an increasingly chaotic world, and an invitation to reflect on what kind of future we’re shaping.

Between my favorite artists are: Albrecht Dürer, Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse, Hieronymus Bosch, Adrian Ghenie, Bjørnar Aaslund, Kay Nielsen, Maja Ruznic and her husband Joshua Hagler, Tomasz “Tomek” Bagiński, Michael Nauert, and Dolaana Davaá.