TRAVELING INWARD 6, ©2009, CRISTINA IORGA
44 x 30 inches, Mixed Media/Printmaking

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CRISTINA IORGA

BIO / STATEMENT

I was born in Republic of Moldova in 1981. At age of eleven, due to political tensions during the fall of URSS, my family and I moved to Romania. I started my intensive artistic training at the most prestigious art school in Romania, called “Nicolae Tonitza,” one year after I arrived. Since then I have diligently pursued various art techniques such as figure drawing, still life, painting, composition, sculpting, book illustration, etc. In Romania I had mostly created representational art. On my arrival to the United States three years ago, I switched my focus and started concentrating exclusively on abstract art. My art changed a lot from dark, black-white angst expressionism towards a more vibrant colorful palette. I have created numerous mono-prints over the last few years because my desire was to combine my strong urge for color with the matrix of the print form. Recently, I have also started to paint with oil and my intention is to explore this technique more vividly.

The early training I received in my home country enabled me to be extremely disciplined in my artistic pursuits and I have a considerable body of artwork as well as prizes and publications. I have recently graduated with my MFA in Printmaking from University of Iowa.

I am passionate about movement—my work has to vibrate with emotion, to breathe with its own life. I try to diversify my graphic language in order to express this inner emotion. I enter a different world when I work—a world which is passionate, enticing, mysterious—a world in motion which feeds my art. The images materializing in my hands are expressions of my inner experiences, a burst of the unconscious.

I've had numerous spiritual parents-great artists which deeply influenced my art. In Romania I was deeply influenced by Northern European Expressionism and Art Informel, as well as by the American Abstract Expressionism. In the USA I rediscovered some European masters such as Kandinsky, Matisse, Chagall, Paul Klee, Hundertwasser, Picasso, and I also started to get influenced by numerous American artists such as Jean-Michael Basquiat, Robert Motherwell, Susan Rothenberg, etc.

At present, I’ve been comparing religious, scientific, philosophical, and artistic concepts in an attempt to map the common grounds on which all human endeavors are based. I realize this is a lifelong project.

I was fascinated to find out that different cultures, such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism etc, are apparently more related to each other than it seems. The most obvious that appears in each religion is that of unconditional love towards all fellow human beings, irrespective of culture, creed and race. All those philosophies also preach deep veneration towards Mother Nature. It is difficult to comprehend how most of the atrocities occurring throughout the history of mankind were actually perpetrated based on religious disputes.

The intense study of Eastern philosophy developed in me the desire to acquire a deep understanding of spiritual ideas from different cultures. Slowly but surely, I’ve started including in my work symbols from many cultures as I search for answers to questions I’ve held in me for a long time. I feel that a better comprehension of what the ancient clairvoyants preached will enable me to understand better the world of today. I am also eager to learn about the customs of isolated tribes, because they are much closer to the all-encompassing eternal truth, which the civilized world—entrapped as it is in its tangible thoughts—has lost long ago.

Curiosity about ancient civilizations and the accompanying metaphysical aspects also led me toward recent scientific texts, which appear to prove that religion and science are not as adverse as it was once thought. Quantum physics is a strong testimony in this regard. The idea that each atom has its own consciousness is not alien to me, since I've always thought that no matter what I create, it should be alive and vibrant.