Biography
Cristina Marcu is a contemporary artist blending impressionist and expressionist styles.
A colorist at heart, her works are inspired by the Russian and Romanian folk art that surrounded her as a child in her native country of Romania. She was raised with the arts and at the age of seven she attended George Enescu Music Conservatory where she began to study classical piano.
In 1974, Cristina emigrated to the U.S. with her parents; residing in New York for four years where she continued her piano studies. She was then accepted into the famous Manhattan High School of Performing Arts and in 1985 she received a degree with honors in piano performance from USC’s Thornton School of Music.
Cristina began nurturing her painting aspirations in the early 1990’s. A self- taught artist at first, her curiosity and passion for new learning experiences took her to Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design and UCLA where she studied drawing and painting.
Cristina’s artistic influences come from the impressionistic styles of Van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin and Kandinsky. The Northern California’s Society of Six became the inspiration to explore her gifts for abstract painting.
Her strong education in classical music is projected in her paintings through an imaginative approach to color. She loves sound and sound is her palette. As she says: “ colors in harmony are not my only objective; dissonance is as much a part of expressing how I feel.” A paradox of dream versus reality becomes the desired effect. “I want to lead the viewer to experience openness to the moment and the mystery of the unknown.”
Fluent in various mediums Cristina utilizes oil, watercolor and acrylics to paint diverse subject matter. She has authored Sounds of Color, a children’s book combining audio awareness and primary color recognition.
Cristina lives in Northern California and her free time is dedicated to writing music, yoga and meditation.
Artist Statement
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