California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

Turf
Filler ad

Floating on Air

CSUEB alumna Rozita Fogelman shares her new exhibit “Transient Spaces” in Oakland.

Influenced by Shamanism, jazz and the Graphic School of New York, the multi-disciplinary media artist and CSU East Bay alumna Rozita Fogelman is making waves at Oakland’s FLOAT gallery.

Using the elements of earth, land and water, Fogelman’s new exhibit “Transient Spaces” explores the symbolic dualities of change and stability.

“Transient Spaces” opened this month at the FLOAT Gallery in Oakland, an urban art spa that is the only floatation center art gallery in the Bay Area.

“My series, ‘Body, Land and Water,’ is my attempt to create a space addressing the need to reconnect the link between art, language, people, land and water,” said Fogelman. “I want to create a connection between the past collective ideas and the archetypal symbols of our current culture, a grounding place where one can reconnect with the original concept and structure of balance.

Fogelman pioneered a unique Interdisciplinary Master program at CSUEB, where she combined Multimedia, Communication and Art Studio. She earned her M.A. in Multimedia Disciplinary Media Arts this past spring.

Originally from Tbilisi, Georgia, Russian-born Fogelman sees visual communication as her first language out of five.

“Rozita believes the distractions of our multi-tasking culture need balance,” said CSUEB pictorial art professor Grace Munakata. “She hopes to create a quiet, interactive space where viewers can respond to the artwork in a meditative manner. Perhaps this can remind us of our connection and dependence on the elements of earth and water and of our collective consciousness as a society.”

“She is selective about the colors she uses,” continued Munakata. “Their contrast shift significantly when they dry, a metaphor for spiritual changes and the impact of weather and time on land.”

Fogelman›s lifelong diasporic journey between her dislocated identities is the driving force for her desire to express herself through art.

“Such a feast for the eyes, her work is beautiful,” said CSUEB art administrative support coordinator Jan Martinez.

As a feminist, her dedication to create art professionally came from a need for free speech and expression.

“In Russia my family suffered from violent outbreaks of anti-Semitism and I witnessed many of events of Jews being attacked,” said Fogelman. “When I was five years old, the Russian KGB sentenced my father for five years in a Siberia jail. The agony of the trip to visit him in jail will remain with me forever.”

Once word got around that Fogelman’s father had been sent to jail, she fell victim to abuse by the neighborhood children.

Her early childhood was plagued with fear, betrayal and insecurity, said Fogelman.

Soon after that, her family left Russia and immigrated to Israel. It was there that land water began to represent a source of regeneration of the physical body, said Fogelman.

“We moved to the city of Bat-Yam, located on the Mediterranean Sea on the central coastal strip,” said Fogelman. “Living by the Mediterranean Sea was healing and transforming. It was a dream come true for me.”

Fogelman’s “Transient Spaces” will continue to run through October 29.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Pioneer Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Activate Search
California State University East Bay
Floating on Air