Ether on exhibit at the Front Door Gallery, November 29 - December 12, 2007

Ether
a show dealing with the concepts of space; both figurative and literal explorations by local Reno artists. Not just a show about space ships- it's about the interaction with the existence of the intangible.

On display at the Front Door Gallery
November 29 - December 12, 2007

Opening Reception:
Thursday, November 29, 2007 at 6:30 pm

Featuring artwork by:
Anthony Arevalo
Melanie Berner
Evan Dent
Nick Larsen
Candace Nicol
Nolan Preece
Rossitza Todorova

Ether exhibit curated by:
Rob Brown, Rebecca Holmstrom, Aby Henry, Emily Guillen

Front Door Gallery
Church Fine Arts Building
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557
775.784.6658

Ether
3. the upper regions of space; the clear sky; the heavens.
4. the medium supposed by the ancients to fill the upper regions of space.
5. Physics An all-pervading, infinitely elastic, massless medium formerly postulated as the medium of propagation of electromagnetic waves.

Ethereal Space
1. light, airy, or tenuous: an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.
2. extremely delicate or refined: ethereal beauty.
3. heavenly or celestial: gone to his ethereal home.
4. of or pertaining to the upper regions of space.
5. Chemistry. pertaining to, containing, or resembling ethyl ether.

The concept for the show was formulated out of a series of critiques given by Margo Pelletier and Lisa Thomas, the directors and producers of the documentary Silvia, who were visiting artists at the University of Nevada, Reno in February of 2007. Ms. Pelletier, after seeing a handful of student work, made the comment about how interesting it was that a lot of artwork dealt with “ethereal space” and how interesting that was both in relation to culture and this generation.

The artwork involved in the show involves different media and diverse artists. Ranging from invented photographic processes to traditional drawings, they allt question the idea of ethereal space: its bounds, depths, and dimensions.

'Where skyscraper meets sagebrush'

April 18, 2007

Reno Gazette-Journal: Neighborhoods

'Where skyscraper meets sagebrush'

Artist finds inspiration in man-made features

By Kristin Larsen

klarsen@rgj.com

Where others might look at the unfinished bridge in Washoe Valley and see a construction project, artist Rossitza Todorova sees an abandoned relic akin to ancient Greek structures. She jokingly calls them "pre-ruins."

It's the inspiration for her drawing "Highway and Bridge Stand Unfinished" featured in the Northwest Reno Library Gallery. "Windscapes" - Todorova's exhibit of black, white and gray drawings created with brushes, pens and ink will be featured through May 25.

Todorova discovers her artistic inspirations locally. She moved from Bulgaria to Northern Nevada 10 years ago, and said she's fallen in love with the desert and how it changes.

"Man leaves a mark on the landscape," Todorova said. "Unlike many, I find that to be beautiful - where skyscraper meets sagebrush."

Above the tunnel's mouth

Another experience instigated the creation of her piece titled, "Sitting above the tunnel's mouth." In an area of rural Nevada, Todorova said the roar of a train hurtling down the tracks gave her enough warning to run to the train tunnel's roof just in time to watch the train passing below.

"You can sit on a concrete block with nature all around, and watch this force of man beneath your feet," Todorova said. "You don't often get to experience machinery that close."

The unpredictable kinks and curves of nature appear woven throughout architectural lines to create vast, overlapping landscapes. Todorova said every landscape has wilderness in it for her.

"I don't think you can think of landscape without nature, even though man has a finger in it," Todorova said.

No focal point

You won't find a focal point in Todorova's art. She wants your eye to move through the piece and not find a resting spot.

She said she allows viewers' minds to fill in the vacancies and tries to draw their eyes to shadows with dense details - and "hopefully, you find a different path every time."

Todorova said she had to reinvent her art after she graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in December 2005 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. That's when she created the first piece in the exhibit, "Crossroads," a chaotic mishmash of lines and shadows.

Noticing surroundings

Todorova said she began noticing her surroundings - clouds and sagebrush - more after seeing Phyllis Shafer's paintings of Nevada's landscape at the Stremmel Gallery on South Virginia Street.

Todorova hopes the audience will sense motion in her art. She weaves lines that pass over and behind each other in an effort to create optical illusions, so the viewer never quite knows what is closest and what is farthest away.

From Todorova's perspective, motion isn't limited to nature or mechanical objects. Civilization is like a dirt road in the wilderness - if a path isn't used constantly, it will be reclaimed by its surroundings. That's the idea behind her work "The Metal Was Solid But the Ground Sunk Beneath Our Feet."

"Man is constantly reclaiming land, but nature is also," Todorova said. "Just because the building is solid, doesn't mean it doesn't move."

Todorova adores art so much that when she's not creating her own, she's stewarding the art of others by working for the Nevada Arts Council as an assistant. The council tries to bring exhibits to populations that wouldn't normally get to enjoy them.

"(Art) takes from the world and shows the world back to you," Todorova said. "You may not be able to see the world without art."

Copyright (c) Reno Gazette-Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.

Chalk the Walk

On Sat, June 16, 2007 I participated in a calk mural project called Calk the Walk. This Artown event was sponsored by the Reno Rodeo, and this year’s theme was “Wild West Nevada".
I along with other local and out of state artist and art organizations like YAW and the NMA created western themed chalk drawings in the Reno City Plaza.

I won best of show with my chalk mural.

RGJ Artical about the event below:

Chalk the Walk

Brilliant and unique pastel colors splashed the City Plaza in downtown Reno on Saturday morning for Reno's first Chalk the Walk, featuring dozens of colorful murals celebrating the Wild West.

Erika Cole O'Malley, director of Reno Chalk the Walk, moved to Reno six months ago from her hometown of San Antonio, Texas, where they often hold mural festivals.

"Mural Festivals are everywhere in the country, so it was time Reno had one for the rodeo and Artown." O'Malley said. "The event was planned three months ago, which was not nearly enough time, but we did pretty well."

The Reno Chalk the Walk partnered with the Rodeo Community Spirit Committee.

"I couldn't do this without (Reno Rodeo Association Chairperson) Jari Sutton, who gave us half of our budget," O'Malley said. "The other half was given by Councilman David Aiazzi, who is also taking part with the Tour De Nez bicycle race."

The organization also supports Artown.

"It's a great way to show people they have a beautiful downtown."

O'Malley had been at the downtown plaza since 6 a.m. Friday, only leaving for sleep. To create the project, she set out calls for three professional artists for commission and local professional or amateur artists who also wanted to volunteer.

She invited local schools and local programs, like Big Brothers and Big Sisters, for volunteers to create the murals.
The theme was Wild West of Nevada.

The three professional artists were Ray Valdez, Larissa Sokolova and Genna Panzarella, who won the top award at the world's oldest street painting festival in Grazie, Italy. Her piece in Reno is of a young cowboy.

Valdez, a local artist and fine arts teacher at Coral

Academy of Science Charter School, created a nature composition featuring an American Indian and a horse.

"I wanted to take a different perspective on what I know best," Valdez said. "I feel fortunate and honored to be part of this, and it's nice to see the city include art with the rodeo."

Valdez also works with Youth Artworks, an eight-year program that teaches art for young people. Many in the program also took part.

"The Youth Artworks program is solid, we always get a good group of kids." Valdez said.

Larissa Sokolova has been in Reno for eight years after leaving Russia. She received her master's degree in arts and architecture in her home country and has been creating art all her life.

Her mural was entitled, "A High Noon Duel between the Old West and the New West," depicting cowboys on horses of the Old West and the kayakers and bicyclists of today.

Her husband Greg Kusik, a Citifare bus driver who's been in Reno for 15 years, gave her the idea.

"He gave me the idea of the old and new West combination," Sokolova said. "So the piece is a family project."

Rossitza Todorova, a professional artist who volunteered for Chalk the Walk, was working on her piece featuring an action scene of a cowboy chasing a calf.

Originally from Bulgaria, Todorova is received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2005.

"To me, the rodeo is so romanticized to represent America," Todorova said.

Chalk the Walk was partnered with other events of the day including the Wine Walk, the Reno Rodeo and rodeo parade.

"We wanted this day to have so many different events so people could be here all day doing something." O'Malley said.

Todorova plans to spend the rest of her weekend in downtown Reno.

"With Artown, the rodeo, and the Tour de Nez, this has created a great melting pot of the West."See Ray Valdez's

Patagonia Warehouse Gallery

During August 2007 I was lucky enough to turn Patagonia’s Warehouse in Verdi, Nevada into a permanent gallery for some of my large paintings.
With the help and support of Patagonia and the Abeloe family I was allowed to hang six large scale paintings 20 feel above the warehouse floor.
It took two forklifts and 4 amazing members of the Patagonia staff but the artwork went up in one day.

Thank you Patagonia, Ryan and Mr. Abeloe!

Artist Statement

Rossitza Todorova depicts the ever-changing landscapes of Northern Nevada in her abstract, black and white drawings. In her artwork she morphs natural and architectural lines to create vast, overlapping landscapes.

“For the last sixteen years I have seen the Reno/Carson Valley change, pushing further into the surrounding hills and valleys. Roads, highways and homes stretch out into the dessert transforming our natural landscape. At the same time structures and paths that man once dug and build are overtaken by the snow, sun, and desert, leaving man and nature in a symbiotic relationship of creating and reclaiming,” says Rossitza Todorova. “I am fascinated by man’s drive to change and adapt his surroundings. I find man’s desire to take charge of his own life visually inspiring. I try to capture man’s momentum in my drawings. My lines of ink are an abstract representation of how man uses his tools to re-define his world but also represent his desire for movement and travel. In my drawings I try to capture the motion of man in one landscape; the road and the body that created it.”

Ms. Todorova’s works have been exhibited throughout the Reno area; including recent solo shows at the Nevada Museum of Art and the Sierra Arts Foundation. In 2005, she earned her B.F.A in Painting/Drawing with minors in Business Marketing and Management from the University of Nevada, Reno. Presently, she works at the Nevada Arts Council as the Nevada Touring Initiative Assistant.

Act of sight

Rossitza Todorova: Windscapes

By Karen Abrams

This article was published on 04.26.07.

Rossitza Todorova’s “Re-defined Grid,” a pen and ink piece featured at the Windscapes exhibit. PHOTO BY DAVID ROBERT

Rossitza Todorova’s Windscapes exhibit is on display through May 25 at the Northwest Reno Library Gallery at 2325 Robb Drive. For more information, visitwww.sierra-arts.org, or call 787-4100 or 329-2787. Todorova presents a free art workshop at the library May 8 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Fascinated by humanity’s drive to change and adapt to his surroundings, local artist Rossitza Todorova, 25, depicts the ever-changing landscapes of Northern Nevada in her abstract black-and-white drawings. In her artwork, she morphs natural and architectural lines of ink to create vast, overlapping landscapes.

“For the last 16 years, I have witnessed many changes of [local valleys], pushing further into the surrounding hills and valleys as roads, highways and homes stretch out into desert, transforming our natural landscape, leaving man and nature in a symbiotic relationship of creating and reclaiming his environment,” she says. “As an artist, I find man’s desire to take charge of his own life visually inspiring.”

Each line of the young, Bulgarian-born artist’s pen-and-ink sketches buries itself under another, and while the lines do not move, it is within our own stillness that we walk their composition. Todorova uses the sense of sight to bring the viewer into the two-dimensional world of art. The finely detailed lines give the drawings depth and distance, and these renderings can be interpreted as straight-on landscapes or aerial views. But the images are enticingly unclear with their curving arteries of white space, contrasting with frenzied layers of ink and intricate patterns of cross-hatching, leaving them open to interpretation.

“I try to show energy and movement with each composition and challenge the viewer to create their own story while I act as the narrator showing and foreshadowing elements of plot,” says Todorova. “My lines of ink are an abstract representation of how man uses his tools to redefine his world but also represents his desire for movement and travel. In my drawings, I try to capture the motion of man in one landscape; the road and the body that created it.”

Each sketch is meant to ground the work to a specific location, and Todorova’s drawings have titles such as “Crossroads” and “Sitting Above the Tunnel’s Mouth.” Among the drawings in her current exhibit on display at the Northwest Reno Library Gallery, “Highway and Bridge Stand Unfinished” is one with which the artist expressed a special relationship while creating the Windscapes exhibit.

Todorova has exhibited her work throughout the Reno area in the past several years, including recent solo shows at the Nevada Museum of Art and the Sierra Arts Foundation. Presently, Todorova works with the Nevada Touring Initiative’s “Traveling Exhibition Program,” a program of the Nevada Arts Council that brings visual arts exhibits and cultural events to rural communities throughout the state.

Todorova will present a free art workshop for all ages at the Northwest Reno Library on May 8, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. The workshop will be a drawing lesson on negative space, which focuses on capturing the entire space rather than just the object or subject being drawn.

“Viewing art is a journey,” Todorova says. “Uninhibited by physical reality, we bring all of our knowledge and experience into the act of seeing. Each step I take is small like the lines and marks on the paper, and yet the steps connect and carry my viewers and me to the road ahead. The road breaks, weaves over hills and under bridges, it forks and is rejoined.”

These abstract landscape images can be reinterpreted over and over again yet are sure to leave an indelible impression.