Digital Art Expands Opportunities for Young Artists in Romania

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – Oana Livia, 26, is a mixed media artist. Livia, from Focsani, a city in eastern Romania, says she prefers to combine traditional and digital techniques to create her artwork.

To make her art, Livia first draws on paper, then retouches the pieces digitally. She says digital technology has improved her work.

“Working with programs such as Photoshop helps me escape the dictatorship of the tiny, wrongly drawn line,” she says.

She says she and many other artists are going digital. Why? 

“Because of the ‘undo’ option,” she says.

She says digital art also erases societal stereotypes when it comes to age, gender and race.

“Internet makes age and gender differences fade,” she says. “In front of the screen, no one cares if the person behind an online drawing is black or white, young or old or whatever,” she says. “The feeling the artist is able to communicate is all that matters. If your art has an identity, you have an identity.”

She says this wider and more accepting market online has enabled her to sell her work.

“I remember nostalgically the first 22 cents [USD (70 bani RON)] I gained by selling a print through DeviantArt.com,” she says, smiling.

She says she has had more sales since.

“I grew a lot from that moment on,” she says, laughing. “I sold another print – this time for 80 cents [USD (2.50 new lei RON)]!”

Still, Livia says that art doesn’t generate enough money, so she can’t advance her career beyond being an amateur artist.

“If I became a professional artist, I would no longer afford buying bread or – even worse – paying my Internet connection,” she says with a bitter smile.

So Livia has turned to computer science to earn a living.

“I studied computer science while writing literature,” she says, continuing to smile. “Now, I am completing my computer science Ph.D. while drawing a world full of color.”

She is pursuing her doctorate in France.

“However, my roots are still in Romania,” she says. “I love my country.”

Because of her other career, she says time can be an issue when it comes to creating her art.

“The most important obstacle is time,” she says.

But Livia says she is determined to keep working on her art.

“Whenever I create, I have a feeling of fulfillment at the end of the day,” she says. “It’s like the last 24 hours were a bit different.”

She says she looks forward to continuing to develop her skills.

“Many people told me I already have an artistic identity, but I feel like am not there yet,” she says.

Artists say that the digital art world offers them the freedom to share their work and express themselves. Far from abandoning traditional techniques and theories, they say that digital art is rather a mix of old and new. Still, young artists say they struggle to earn enough to make a living through art. As opportunities in galleries are rare for young artists in traditional galleries, the digital art world offers a promising space for them to display and market their work. But the ease of publishing work online raises the debate of standards and whether an art degree is necessary to be considered an artist. Artists also must rely on local leaders and consumers to support their passion, but they voice their commitment to art and optimism for the future.

Digital art is strictly defined as art created or altered through a computational process, according to 115 Digital Art Gallery. Some say the gallery, which opened in 2007, is considered among the first exclusively digital art galleries here, according to a local magazine. The first digital art festival here, Print Art Fest, took place in 2010, according to a local news blog, as Romanians continue to get more involved in the digital art movement.

Young artists say that the digital art world has afforded them the freedom to express themselves and share their work, which has helped them grow as artists.

Cuiedan Alina, 17, a digital artist from Timisoara, a city in western Romania, says that sharing her work on the Internet has helped her art to evolve.

“The digital environment gave me the opportunity to show my artwork to other people than my friends and family,” she says. “People’[s] comments and critics helped me grow, change my style – in one word, become better.”

Maria Cocalea, 18, a polyvore – or digital collage – artist from Constanta, a city in southeastern Romania, says she found the freedom to be herself in the digital art world.

“It’s easier to express yourself in an environment where you know you are not going to be judged,” she says enthusiastically. “There are no barriers here. Talent and emotions are understood and accepted.”

Artists say that technology has overcome traditional barriers, as discrimination based on gender, age and race hasn’t segregated the digital world.

“Gender doesn’t matter,” says Andreea Ichim, 20. “The artwork has no gender. The most important thing is to express yourself as an artist, wherever you are a man or a woman.”

Still, artists have not abandoned traditional art. Maria Dermengiu, 29, a professional traditional artist from Bucharest, Romania’s capital, says she doesn’t use digital technology to create her art. Even young artists who have gone digital say they blend old theories and techniques with new technology.

“The basis are always paper and pencil,” says Bogdan Cristea, a 28-year-old digital artist from Galati, a city in eastern Romania.

The artists say they consider digital art to be a mixture of traditional art and special effects.

“Today’s digital artists, those who create settings and characters for movies and video games, are very familiar with the theory and techniques of traditional art,” Cristea says.

Ichim says that Polyvore, a blog that combines fashion with scrapbooking, exemplifies this blend of old and new.

“A polyvore set is basically a digital collage aimed at inspiring people,” she says, then pauses to think carefully. “It’s pretty much the same thing one can see in fashion magazines, just that this time, both the concept and the technique are available to everyone.”

Many digital artists say they use computer programs to supplement more traditional oil painting and pencil drawing.

“I love working on paper as much as I enjoy the screen,” says Alina, who does both traditional drawing and digital painting.

Many works of art are even the result of different techniques and more than one software.

“My art is a combination of photo manipulation, digital drawing and 3D elements designed with the help of graphics software,” Cristea says.

Still, many young artists say they face old problems. The say they must resign themselves to their amateur status, as it continues to be difficult to make a living as a professional artist.

“I’m afraid I would not be able to make a living from art,” says Alina, who limits her passion for art to a hobby.

Economic pressures force artists to find alternative jobs, sometimes ones they enjoy less. The country’s economic crisis officially started in 2009, and major budget cuts last year slashed wages and pensions.

“Having a job brings you back to reality, in the case of Romania, a gray reality,” says Cristea, who works as a hardware engineer. “People become robots without knowing it.”

Ichim currently studies communications and public relations, and she says she has to be vigilant to make sure she doesn’t abandon her art completely.

“I don’t want to let art completely out of my life, even if this means only a little flower drawn in the notebook’s corner between two classes,” she says.

But they say that digital art offers new possibilities. 

“I [can’t] afford to buy all the needed materials,” Alina says. “I try to find new ways to create, for example, digital tools.”

Angela Szabo, an internationally known Romanian symbolist painter, says that getting started can be challenging.

“At the beginning, time was a problem,” Szabo says. “But I fought to put art on the first place.”

She says living simply helps.

“I moved to a rural area, and I try to live a simple life,” Szabo says. “This is how I can afford being an artist.”

Dermengiu says being a professional artist can be a struggle, but that it’s possible.

“During the last two years, all I did was art,” she says. “So I might be considered now a professional artist. At first, it was very difficult, being a mother of two little children, but I was encouraged by the people around me.”

Szabo acknowledges that opportunities for youth have been limited traditionally.

“It was difficult after graduation,” Szabo says. “The Romanian Fine Arts Union thought I was too young. There was no place in galleries. Only consecrated artists exhibited there.”

The Romanian Fine Arts Union, UAP, is the oldest art professional association in Romania.

But Szabo says she persevered, and her artwork was eventually displayed in the United States, France, Germany and Japan.

Ten years later, though, the situation hasn’t changed much for young artists, says Suzana Vasilescu, art manager at Artmark, an auction house.

“There are few contemporary art galleries in Romania,” she says. “State galleries are, however, closed to young people. Only UAP members over 40 years exhibit there.”

Private galleries do promote young artists, but receiving this opportunity is rare.

“Managers prefer to have fewer artists in their portfolios, so that they’d be able to invest time and resources in promoting them,” Vasilescu says.

She says that she only selects young creators who have the best selling potential on the Romanian market at the current moment.

“I can’t choose something I personally like,” she says. “Nor can I favor an excellent artwork, which is backward or not representative of contemporary art.”

Given the exclusivity of galleries, selling artwork on the street has been one of young artists’ only options. In light of Romania’s harsh autumn and winter weather, creating online galleries in the digital art world has become an appealing alternative.

Cocalea says the digital world is “the ideal place” to exhibit one’s creations.

“If I was a leader, I would create more web communities, such as Polyvore, and promote them among Romanian youth people,” she says.

Dermengiu says that although she doesn’t use digital technology to create any of her artwork, she does venture into the digital world to market it.

“The virtual environment is the fastest way to make your art known,” says Dermengiu, who has several online profiles on specialized art websites to market her work.

But since the digital art world makes it so easy for anyone to call themselves artists and post their work online, its rise also ignites debate about whether an art degree is necessary for a career in art.

On one hand, some say that art degrees have little value because it’s all too common for them to become obsolete.

Szabo, a 2001 fine arts and decorative arts graduate, warns about the dangers of having an “untrendy” degree.

“After finishing my studies, I had the unpleasant surprise to discover textile factories had disappeared, so tapestry designers were no longer needed,” she says.

Cristiana Motusoc, 23, says she is an “ex-artist” after making a similar discovery two years ago.

“Education cut my wings,” she says.

After graduating from an art high school, Motusoc went directly to Bucharest National University of Arts and studied art restoration. But she was surprised to discover an outdated educational system, which crippled the launch of a career in art.

“Teachers never tried to prepare us for the digital world or at least for working with other artistic mediums,” she says bitterly. “Restoration artists are no longer needed anyway.”

Motusoc now works in advertising.

But others say art education is essential.

Artist Ana Wagner says that academic training contributed to her success.

“Art studies open minds and enlarge horizons,” she says. “There are excellent artists who never studied art. But personally, I am very grateful to my teachers, who encouraged me from the very beginning.”

Some of the young artists say they are still fascinated by the dream of studying art at a university. Cocalea, who is in her final year of high school, says she hopes to attend Bucharest National University of Arts after she graduates. Alina, also a high school student, shares similar views.

“If I was a leader, I’d invest more in art schools and projects aimed at educating young artists,” she says.

Others say they dream of studying art abroad because of more opportunities offered in other countries to study digital art.

“In other countries, youth have the option to study digital art, and they can also afford specialized courses,” Cristea says.

Romanian youth say they could have better chances abroad.

“I consider leaving the country,” Alina says. “I believe young artists enjoy more support abroad.”

But Raluca, 28, a jewelry designer who declined to give her last name, says art opportunities are everywhere.

“I think opportunities are the same everywhere,” says Raluca, who sells her creations at street fairs. “Success is only dependent of the amount of talent one has.”

Szabo says it’s crucial to develop this talent, despite the sacrifices this may require.

“Talent is something you are born with,” Szabo says. “But you need to polish it.”

Proper polishing is done in school, according to the UAP, which only accepts members who have completed a degree at a higher education art institute.

“UAP people are really old-fashioned,” Vasilescu says. “I mean no young artist should care about joining this organization.”

Still, degrees are important, says Vasilescu, a 23-year-old postmodernism and contemporary art specialist who was recently voted most influential art manager by readers of Agentia de Carte, a Romanian news agency.

“If you didn’t study art, you can’t be a professional,” she says. “All these people who completed degrees in other fields and call themselves artists are really not worth it. Their art is just a hobby.”

Raluca disagrees.

“Any man-made object able to move another person should be considered art,” she says.

Beyond education, Wagner acknowledges the role that local leaders and consumers also play in validating art. She advises young creators to fight for a place in the city by opening small shops that could attract many visitors.

“If I was a leader, I would transform Bucharest’s old city center into an art shops picturesque area,” she says. “A country’s culture isn’t made of beer and sausages only!”

But Wagner says she is optimistic.

“It’s true, the Romanian art market still needs to grow, and the public is not yet educated,” she says. “But I am optimistic. There are [good] signs everywhere that things are going into the right direction.”

With their use of digital technology, young artists are one sign of this.

“Even if my art will remain a hobby, I will never give up drawing, painting and aiming to be myself,” Alina says.

Camelia Petreanu, 38, a fashion and jewelry designer, says there is hope for artists, despite the economic crisis.

“I know these are difficult times for all of us, but I am convinced things will turn out for better,” she says.

Szabo says artists must believe in themselves.

“I can only offer the advice I was given myself: If you are good, step forward!”