Phoenix is brimming with creativity. And every other year, we put the spotlight on 100 of the city's creative forces. Leading up to the release of this year's Best of Phoenix issue, we're profiling 100 more. Welcome to the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives. Up today: 38. Rossitza Todorova.
For Rossitza Todorova, it's all about the journey.
The Tempe artist was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, raised in Reno, Nevada, and moved to Arizona to pursue her master's of fine arts in painting and drawing at ASU's Herberger Institute. Since graduating in 2013, Todorova, who turns 33 this month, has been stockpiling inspiration -- when she's not working at ASU Art Museum, teaching as an adjunct professor at ASU's School of Art, or creating new works.
See also: Phoenix Dancer Gavin Sisson: 100 Creatives
The roads and infrastructure that lead the artist from one place to another are what inspire her sometimes three-dimensional works that look like linear abstractions of roller coasters or funhouse highways. In the past, she's created pieces like Zipping Through LA, pictured above, referencing experiences in specific cities through geometric mounds and swirling intersections.
And soon, Todorova will exhibit a new body of such work.
"I am working on a new series of drawings and artist books inspired by all of the places I have traveled over the last year," Todorova says. "I will have a solo exhibition of new work at the Eye Lounge Project Room, opening in February of 2015."
Mark your calendars -- and your maps.
I came to Phoenix with the desert dust in my wheels and postcard images of saguaros in my imagination. What I found instead is the beauty of endless highways and infinity flyovers crisscrossing the blazing blue sky.
I make art because it is what I love and what I do. I can't remember a time when I was not an artist. Each art piece is an experiment. I continually ask myself, "What if I try this?" Then I put pencil to paper and solve a problem working with color, composition and materials to create movement, tension and place.Making artwork is rewarding because it's never boring.
I'm most productive when I have a deadline. The pedal to the metal speed that comes at the end of a project makes me feel like a superhero that cansqueeze the utmost out of every minute and hour.
My inspiration wall is not a white vertical space where I pin things with thumbtacks. I have never really had this kind of wall. My inspiration comes from being in transit: • commuting, • driving, • traveling, • riding the light rail, • sitting in the plane looking out the window at the unknown topography of the land, • the dead time waiting for red to turn green, • moments lost in daydreaming • the time it takes for the bicycle brakes to stop me at the intersection, • that confusion of place • when I realize I have missed the exit, • Shadow of the plane swallowing me in darkness from overhead, • the pain of the last quarter mile of my evening run
My inspiration comes when I am in between thoughts, speeding between destinations, or driftingbetween dreams.
I've learned most from traveling outside of my comfort zone, with a skeleton plan of where to go, putting trust in a map and my feet.
Good work should always take you somewhere.After looking at art you should feel dizzy. As if you just stepped out of a portal that showed you theworld as you have never seen it before.
The Phoenix creative scene could use more affordable studio spaces for artists.
See the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives:
100. Bill Dambrova 99. Niki Blaker 98. Jeff Slim 97. Beth May 96. Doug Bell 95. Daniel Langhans 94. Nanibaa Beck 93. Nicole Royse 92. Ib Andersen 91. Casandra Hernandez 90. Chris Reed 89. Shelby Maticic 88. Olivia Timmons 87. Courtney Price 86. Travis Mills 85. Catrina Kahler 84. Angel Castro 83. Cole Reed 82. Lisa Albinger 81. Larry Madrigal 80. Julieta Felix 79. Lauren Strohacker 78. Levi Christiansen 77. Thomas Porter 76. Carrie Leigh Hobson 75. Cody Carpenter 74. Jon Jenkins 73. Aurelie Flores 72. Michelle Ponce 71. Devin Fleenor 70. Noelle Martinez 69. Bucky Miller 68. Liliana Gomez 67. Jake Friedman 66. Clarita Lulić 65. Randy Murray 64. Mo Neuharth 63. Jeremy Hamman 62. La Muñeca 61. Kevin Goldman 60. Emily Costello 59. Kerstin Dale 58. Vara Ayanna 57. Nathaniel Lewis 56. Ruben Gonzales 55. Lisa Poje 54. Bobby Zokaites 53. Frances Smith Cohen 52. Julie Rada 51. David Miller 50. Xanthia Walker 49. Kyllan Maney 48. Cary Truelick 47. Constance McBride 46. James D. Porter 45. Allyson Boggess 44. Abigail Lynch 43. Ashley Cooper 42. Jaclyn Roessel 41. Brandon Boetto 40. Melissa Dunmore 39. Gavin Sisson
