C Fodoreanu: The writings on the Wall

In my 20-plus years of covering the visual art scene in San Diego, I’ve encountered my fair share of unexpectedly interesting stories. And while I’ve always prided myself on digging deep in hopes of deciphering the methodologies and techniques that go into a particular piece of art, the years have also revealed to me that, when it comes to art, the contextual is often just as important as the conceptual.

Such is the case with C Fodoreanu, whose work continues to evolve in both unexpected and extraordinary ways. Like others, my introduction to Fodoreanu was Ode to the Lake Sacalaia, an awe-inspiring collection of photography, stills and written word that he compiled and published after a visit to his native Romania. Naturally, it’s worth pointing out that Fodoreanu is originally from the Transylvania region, and that this fact alone would pique the interest of any arts journalist worth their salt.

His origin story, however, wasn’t the whole story, nor did I find it to be just a convenient angle. Ode was transcendent and talismanic. It was a rare instance of a piece of media that read (and looked) as something both specific to a region, as well as a treasure that transcended geography and culture. It was art, as all pieces of art tend to do, that managed to be both timely and timeless, personal and relatable.

Still, after speaking with Fodoreanu, of learning about his life and desires, I confess I still reserved a certain amount of skepticism and uncertainty. The fact that he finds the time at all for his creative endeavors, while working in what is inarguably one of the most laborious and demanding professions (a pediatrician), led me to believe it was simply impossible for him to keep his artistic pace. As creatives, we often find ourselves treading a thin line between wanting to grow as artists, to try our literal or proverbial hands at a new medium, or to maintain and hone our current trajectory.

I loved Fodoreanu’s work. I heard an indefinable, aspiring cadence in his voice when he spoke about his art. Still, I could not help but wonder: Had I heard the last of him?

Thankfully, I had not. His new series of mixed-media works, aptly and simply dubbed, writings, manages to be both an unexpected and logical leap forward for the artist. Consisting of paintings, photography, video works and mixed-media installations, this new art is, when taken all together, a declarative and prodigious announcement from an artist refusing to be known for or a certain medium or tethered to a specific discipline.

Drawing from his own family’s history of working in spiritual iconography — specifically the tradition of religious paintings on glass that has been practiced for generations, including by his distant relatives, near his village in Nicula, Transylvania — Fodoreanu delves headfirst into these traditions within his own painted world, and does so with a decidedly modern outlook. Both tributary and archetypical, it’s as if the viewer is seeing these types of visual venerations for the first time; uncanny, otherworldly, sublime. Perhaps informed by his own medical work with children, as well as his philanthropic efforts with young artists, Fodoreanu’s work is unafraid to tap into the thin line between wonderment and reverence, the viewer’s inherent sense of the truth and their search for meaning in myths.

There are, of course, any number of quotes from judicious artists speculating on what it means to have a creative spirit. One thing they all seem to agree on (whether they choose to call it the “muse” or the “drive” or the “flash”): We should never ignore these inspired moments. C Fodoreanu creates because he has to, not out of financial necessity or for cultural clout on social media, but because he has chosen not to ignore the voices. This artistic spirit is on full display in writings. I’m sure he’s exceptional within his medical work, but I dare say his creative output has been just as inspirational and salving. For anyone who looks beyond the conceptual and contextual, it is art that is coming from a purposeful, ancestral and soulful place.

Seth Combs is the former Editor-in-Chief of San Diego CityBeat and is currently a visual arts writer and columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Essay on writings, solo exhibition at level of service not required (LOS/NR), La Jolla, CA, 2025.

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