C FODOREANU: Ode to the Lake Sacalaia
Curated by Mika Cho
Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery | Cal State LA, Los Angeles, CA
July 24 to August 30, 2023
DREAMSCAPE WITH LAKE: C FODOREANU’S SACALAIA
Essay by Peter Frank
Ode to the Lake Sacalaia — The deepest freshwater lake in Transylvania inspired C. Fodoreanu’s Ode to the Lake Sacalaia. Lake Sacalaia, is a place steeped in legend and folklore, known as the Loch Ness of Transylvania. Legend has it that the lake was formed when a salt mine under a small Roman village caved in circa two thousand years ago, flooding the village. When the Lake’s water is clear, one can still see the spires of the basilica, the highest point of the submerged village. Over the years, many divers have tried reaching the basilica, but heartbreakingly some did not reemerge.
C Fodoreanu spent his childhood summers in a rowboat on this lake, looking down in hopes of catching a glimpse of the submerged basilica. Ode to the Lake Sacalaia are his remembrances of this place, its mysteries, and its role in the formation of his identity. C invites audiences to take part in this visual exploration and recognize a younger man searching for faith and ideals and attaining that which held him true to himself. Fordenau’s work is in search of the poetry in light as it transforms the human’s mind to envision nature as our last recluse. As a physician who studied philosophy and art, Fordenau developed an intimate knowledge of the human anatomy and psyche which inspired him as an artist to relate, transcend, and personalize his understanding of human nature through layered visual works.
READ MORE
https://www.diversionsla.com/tag/ode-to-lake-sacalaia/
https://www.hereinjournal.org/projects/on-c-fodoreanus-ode-to-the-lake-sacalaia
BIO
C Fodoreanu was born into a family with a long tradition of icon painting in Transylvania, Romania. He started painting before inherently transitioning to different mediums and modalities to create his art, from creative writing, photography and collages, to videos, installations and sculptures. His work pursues a poetry of light, and explores the human body as a metaphor for how humans relate to the surrounding nature and each other, faith, mythology, play, love, intimacy, memory, fleetingness of time, and the fragility of life.
C Fodoreanu holds a BA in Philosophy from UC San Diego, an MD from Harvard Medical School, and is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts from School of Visual Arts in New York. As a physician who studied philosophy and art, he developed an intimate knowledge of the human anatomy and psyche, and a keen psycho-social acumen. This affords him a unique position as an artist to relate, transcend, and personalize his understandings of humans and human nature into layered visual works. He is the author of three poetry books (Romanian), a photography monograph (English), and his visual work belongs to private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Artist Websites
https://cfodoreanu.format.com/
https://www.fodoreanu.com/product-page/fodoreanubook