“Rodica Chisu recreates a vocabulary of signs, simple and effective, a vocabulary that fits her, because it was built in time, systematically and vigorously – the real universe and the universe of her imagination, in black and white, in color, with using fabric, giving us an authentic “treaty” about “expression of lines through free movement,” a treaty worthy as a work of art.”    CRISTINA ANGELESCU (excerpt from the Romanian newspaper Week, July 22, 1983) I had an enthusiasm and desire to approach different engraving techniques early on in my university studies. I experimented in my studies, with the possibilities that engraving in different materials: wood, copper, zinc, linoleum, lithography – could offer me to express lines.

2 Washing the Nets aquatinta engraving, 1963

2a Nude aquatinta engraving, 1963

3 Portrait 1 wood engraving 1963

4 Still Life with Newspaper   – lithography 1963

5 Rest   – engraving on wood 1961

6 Drying the Nets lithography 1963

7 Girl Portrait aquatinta engraving 1961

Gradually I discovered that the line has a wonderful quality, that of excellently expressing movement, changes in the physical and spiritual space around us. In engraving the black line has a maximum force of expression and energy, and when it moves freely it can create tensions, suggestions of ideas and feelings. “The artist maintains a characteristic sobriety and central economy even when her work touches on areas layered with exuberance and visual and tactile comfort (especially in textile works). Her works prove that the spirit is cultivated, carry a clarity, lucidity and modesty, which knows through the telescope of the senses, to transform the work from a visual art problem to demonstrate how there could be other diverse possibilities, whilst occupying yourself with the same work.” “The author shows the same unique quality that Odilon Redon called “the effects of the abstract line, which acts directly on the spirit.”    MIHAI DRISCU ( the program “Chronicle of Fine Arts” , radio Bucharest , July 29 , 1983 )

    8 Fire engraving zinc 1980

    9 Water engraving zinc 1980

    10 Impact engraving in aluminium 1983

    11 The Abyss   engraving in aluminium 1983

    12 Plain engraving in aluminium 1983

    13 Expansion engraving in aluminium 1983

    14 Hill engraving in aluminium   1983

    15 Reeds engraving in aluminium 1983

    16 Rustling engraving in aluminium 1983

    17 Grass engraving in aluminium 1983

    18 Engraving 8 engraving in aluminium 1983

    19 Runners linoleum engraving 1975

    20 Choir linoleum engraving 1975

    21 Abundant Harvest linoleum engraving 1975

    22 Women with Guitars engraving in linoleum  1975

    23 Running engraving in linoleum 1975

    24 Climbing Down the Stairs engraving in linoleum 1975

    “Rodica Chisu is one of the fairly rare artists who in the moment they are convinced that they have formed an idea that can become the foundation of a creation, with notable consistency they chase twists and enroll them in the forming image.”    CRISTINA ANGELESCU (excerpt from the Romanian newspaper Week, July 22, 1983)

      25 Getting Dark  oil on canvas 1980

      26 Traveling Birds ink 1964

      27 Horses oil on canvas 1978

      28 Black Lines gouache 2005

      29 The Hill cardboard 1974

      30 Swamp ink 1980

      31 Portrait 2 ink 1974

      32 Builders at Rest ink 1964

      33 Tree of Silence ink 1982

      34 The Blue River color ink 2000

      35 The Red River color ink 2000

      36 Forest 4 ink 1974

      37 Quiet Meadow color ink 1983

      38 Interrupted Sounds ink 1998

      39 Evening Windcolor ink 2007

      40 Intersections  ink 2007

      41 Echo ink 1984

      42 Bushes ink 1980

      43 Forest 5 ink 1980

      44 Tension ink 1984

      45 Forest 3 ink 1978

      46 The Joy of the Morning ink 1980

      47 Cold Rain ink 1980

      I sewed lines on various textiles or combined them into environmental structures, wanting to suggest fragments of nature that I have memorized in time and I rediscovered them as having expressive meanings. “The themes of the engraving, occasionally revisited in the textile works, are clearly defined: the seams and reliefs, are not only virtuoso works, but also show the possibilities to create an ambient atmosphere the room in which the subject maintains its role as the ideational center of the entire image.”    DAN GRIGORESCU (excerpt from the Romanian newspaper Romania Libera, August 8 , 1983)

        48 Raffia Tapestry detail 1 2008

        49 Raffia Tapestry detail 2 2008

        50 Forest silk stitches 1980

        51 Wheat textile relief 1980

        52 The Wood at the Gate textile ambient 1981

        53 The Tree stitched wood 1981

        54 The Burned Tree   ambient textile 1982

        55 Stubble Raffia Tapestry 2007

        56 Horea’s Holm ambient textile 1982

        57 Lines Woolen Stitches 1980

        58 A Field of FlowersStitched wool 1983

        In many works I was attracted by the linear textures applied over the colored background, having the impression that the ideas that formed the basis of the creative process can be transferred in this way directly to the viewer. The line visible or hidden under the color spots, can direct a free movement of the color spots, giving the painting dynamics and expression. “Her pictures give one poetic implications in the landscape, and incontestable capacity to contain the values of the lyrical parts of the world.“    DAN GRIGORESCU (excerpt from the newspaper Romania Libera, August 8, 1983)

          59 Large Forests oil on canvas 1980

          59a Silence 2016

          60 To the Beach oil on canvas 1981

          61 The Boy with the Kite oil on cardboard 1974

          62 Sunset oil on canvas 1981

          63 The Plain oil on cardboard 1978

          64 Horses oil on cardboard 1978

          65 The Young People gouache 1977

          66 Double Portrait gouache 1964

          67 Panic gouache 1979

          68 The Student Oil on cardboard 1978

          69 Condense oil on canvas 1978

          70 The Harlequin   oil on cardboard 1978

          71 The Strolling Musicians 1 gouache 1972

          72 Sun Spots oil on canvas 1979

          73 The Strolling Musicians 2 gouache 1977

          74 The Lake oil on canvas, 1980

          75 Wheat Field oil on cardboard 1978

          76 Crickets Field acrylic on canvas 2016

          77 Singing oil on cardboard 1978

          78 Sunflower Field acrylic 2013

          79 Woman with Cello 2 gouache 1993

          80 Studio 2017

          Movement is the most beautiful quality of nature. It includes renewal, transformation, novelty, surprise, strength, refreshment, vitality. The whole universe is moving. Even rest is in fact only an accidental defeat of matter. Lines can be strong in motion, they can change shape, they can speed up or slow down movement, they can direct or stop it in the image. “The image is rigorously constructed, with sight of the ability to order gestural rational spontaneity with which spots of color lay on the page. Mobility as with tonal intensity, leads one to recall a certain fervor, suggests inner tension in the process, not exterior agitation.”    OCTAVIAN BARBOSA (excerpt from Modern Dictionary of Romanian Artists – Meridiane Publishing House Bucharest, 1970)

            81 Portrait 3 mixed media 1989

            82 Under the Scorching Sun oil on canvas 1975

            83 Climbing Down gouache 2003

            84 Roofs mixed media 1970

            85 The Cityscape mixed media 1970

            86 The Mother with Child oil on canvas 1976

            87 Embroidered Blouse mixed media 1979

            88 The Blind Man oil on canvas 1982

            89 The Runners oil on canvas 1985

            90 Landscape in Riga 1 gouache 1971

            91 Landscape in Riga 2 gouache 1971

            92 The Wedding of Zamfira oil on canvas 1976

            93 The Boy with the Book mixed media 1966

            94 The Traces of Autumn acrylic on canvas 2013

            95 The Blue Grass acrylic on canvas 2016

            96 Summer Night gouache 1978

            97 The Cranes Return gouache 1968

            98 The Morning Joy acrylic on canvas 2017

            99 Birds and Nests gouache 1968

            100 Horses oil on canvas 1975

            101 Leaves gouache 1967

            102 The Blue Bird mixed media 1967

            103 Birds gouache 1969

            104 Anniversary oil on canvas 1978

            105 Meditation oil on cardboard 1979

            106 Transient Thought gouache 2006

            107 Woman with Cello 1 oil on cardboard 1975

            In 1977 I made a group of works on the 100th anniversary of the Romanian War of Independence, convinced that the linear texture can help me create suggestions for moving actions, relatively figurative, dynamic images segmented over time – inspired by the letters on the front of the soldiers that appeared in the poetry of the time. “A few plans of interest that the artist has in view: the chromatic plains with an intensive and expressive focus, divided by the horizon, the rapport between the surfaces subordinate to a dramatic, clashing atmosphere; the graphical structure is based on a equal duct, nervous, often abbreviated, just like with the repeating symbols (signifying soldiers, military equipment, convoys, clashes of fighting, the ground covered with dead and wounded, etc.); the literary metaphor equates to “identity“ respective to the work’s title, allusive to the text, of the war front, especially for the ordinary masses, or in the verses of the epic poem.“    HORIA HORSIA (excerpt from the Romanian magazine “ Arta “ nr. 6 , heading “ Simeze “ 1977)

              108 Fragment of an Epic Poem 1 color ink 1978

              109 We Move Forward gouache 1977

              110 Neither Way to Go Nor Place to Sit  oil on cardboard 1977

              111 At 3 O’Clock We Head Out ink 1976

              112 In Front of Us Was a Steep Bank oil on cardboard 1976

              113 At Dawn We Attacked oil on cardboard 1977

              114 The Historical Sequence  oil on canvas 1976

              115 The Battlefield color ink 1976

              116 Soldiers oil on cardboard 1977

              117 The Fragment of an Epic Poem 2 color ink 1978

              118 In the Valley of Tears the Night Thunders  oil on cardboard 1977

              119 It Was the Afternoon and the Middle of Summer oil on cardboard 1977

              120 The Wind of Battle Was Beating oil on cardboard 1977

              121 The Wind was Blowing with Cold Rain Through the Night oil on cardboard 1977

              122 And Turks and Us Tore the Leads Through the Sky   oil on cardboard 1977

              123 We Had not Frozen Hearts in our Chest oil on cardboard 1977

              124 The Battle Scene oil on canvas 1977

              125 On the Field We No Longer Could See the Grass oil on cardboard 1977

              126 Was War and Death Here Saga   oil on cardboard 1977

              127 We Carried with Us the Wounded oil on cardboard 1977

              128 My Thoughts were at Home oil on cardboard 1977

              129 The Enemies Fled in Disorder oil on cardboard 1977

              In a certain period of time I was interested in different groups of lines of different characters: thin, thick, straight, curved, vertical or oblique, that can easily create expressive meanings in still life works.

                130 The Vase of Flowers   gouache 1966

                131 Still Life with Fish gouache 1964

                132 Still Life with Knitting Needles gouache 1967

                133 Still Life with Grapes gouache 1964

                134 Still Life with Fruit Bowl   gouache 1969

                135 Clay Pots mixed media 1970

                136 Still Life with Green Apples gouache 1966

                137 Still Life with Bottles gouache 1966

                138 Black Ceramic   mixed media 1970

                139 Still Life 1 oil on cardboard 1969

                140 Still Houseplant gouache 1967

                141 Still Life 3 ink 1972

                142 Still Life 2   gouache 1968

                143 Still Life with Lemons gouache 1966

                144 The Moon and Flowers gouache 1978

                145 Still Life with Oval Table ink 1968

                146 Still Life with Chess Pieces   gouache 1967

                147 Still Life 4 ink 1964

                The lines are like a wind above the paper or canvas. Registering freely in the painting, they can suggest emotions, feelings of joy, anxiety, sound movements, rustling of the leaves, sensations of calm or stress, disappearances of ideas, emphasizing the life of the depths.

                  148 By the Sea oil on canvas 1985

                  149 Dusk mixed media 1966

                  150 The Path   oil on canvas 1982

                  151 The Nocturne mixed media 1965

                  152 Dawn oil on canvas 1970

                  153 The Beach acrylic on canvas 1993

                  154 The Cranes   mixed media 1967

                  155 Return from Work oil on canvas 1980

                  156 Old Sibiu oil on canvas 1978

                  157 Orchard gouache 1967

                  158 The Village in the Valley   ink 1965

                  159 Houses in Constanta ink 1964

                  160 The Beach in Mangalia mixed media 1965

                  161 In the Park gouache 1967

                  162 Houses in Rasinari 1   mixed media 1969

                  163 Houses in Rasinari 2 mixed media 1969

                  164 Glimmer of Wind acrylic on canvas 2017

                  165 The Woman in Blue gouache 2007

                  166 Roots  oil on canvas 1974

                  167 People of Rasinari oil on canvas 1979

                  “With a focus on issues of light and color, wishing to bring the shine and intensity of solar indoors, Rodica Chisu has developed a number of variations on the theme of “The Sun on the Table.” With her geometric schemata, her surfaces seen in interaction, this very interesting painter and drawer can be seen as belonging to what could be called an Orfic Cubism. Her latest work “The August Sun” is an explosion of color and joy.”    OLGA BUSNEAG (the magazine Arta nor.10-11-12, December 1971) “The motif of the sun is in fact a permanent symbol of life, energy and becoming. The “Butterfly“ symbolizes the reverie, tonic nature of aspiring toward a lyrical purity… The use of trapezoids in the composition evoke the butterfly form floating with open wings.“ “Variations on the same theme bring so many aspects of both pictorial and poetic composition. The images carry a musical charge, accentuating these properties by carrying a vibrancy and motion that spreads the message for a love of life.“    HORIA HORSIA (excerpt from the Romanian newspaper Scanteia, May 27, 1973)

                    168 The Sun on the Table 2 mixed media 1970

                    169 The Sun on the Table 5 mixed media 1980

                    170 The Sun on the Table  oil on canvas 1982

                    171 The Sun on the Table 6 acrylic on canvas 2012

                    172 The Sun on the Table 4 oil on cardboard 1978

                    173 The Sun on the Table 1 gouache 1964

                    174 The Sun on the Table 3  oil on canvas 1974

                    175 The Sun Among the Trees oil on canvas 1972

                    176 Sun 3 oil on canvas 1973

                    177 Sun 4 oil on canvas 1974

                    178 Sun 1  oil on canvas 1969

                    179 Sun 2 oil on canvas 1970

                    180 Sun 5 oil on canvas 1974

                    181 Black Sun oil on canvas 1974

                    182 Eclipse  oil on canvas 1970

                    183 Warm Day oil on canvas 1970

                    184 Gate of the Sun mixed media 1980

                    185 August Sun oil on canvas 1971

                    186 Project Entrace Gate for Sibiu County  1985

                    187 Entrance Gate for Sibiu County steel 1985

                    188 At the Personal Exhibition Bucharest 1983

                    189 Butterfly on Sand oil on canvas 1970

                    190 Butterfly in Garden  oil on canvas 1973

                    191 Yellow Butterfly gouache 1964

                    192 Blue Butterfly oil on canvas 1973

                    193 Fallen Butterfly oil on canvas 1973

                    194 White Butterfly  oil on canvas 1973

                    “A painting doesn’t teach us anything; it attracts, surprises, exalts, leads imperceptibly and out of love to the need to live beautifully; it elevates and restores the spirit. That’s all.”    ODILON REDON, Excerpt from Romanian book “Jurnal”

                      PRESS REFERENCES

                        1 HORIA HORSIA – the magazine ARTA no.8 , 1973 , rubric ATELIER , Bucharest , Romania

                        1a – HORIA HORSIA – the magazine ARTA no.8 , 1973 , rubric ATELIER , Bucharest , Romania

                        2 – HORIA HORSIA – the newspaper SCANTEIA , May 27 , 1973

                        3 – HORIA HORSIA – the newspaper TRIBUNA SIBIULUI , May 1973

                        4 – HORIA  HORSIA – the magazine ARTA  no.6 , 1977, rubric SIMEZE 

                        5 –  MIHAI  DRISCU – the program CRONICA  DE  ARTA , radio Bucharest , July 29 , 1983

                        6 – CRISTINA  ANGELESCU – the newspaper SAPTAMANA , July 22, 1983 

                        7 – MIRCEA  DEAC – the newspaper INFORMATIA  BUCURESTIULUI , July 30 , 1983

                        8– ALEXANDRU  LUNGU – the magazine ARTA no.8 , 1983 , rubric ATELIER, page 1

                        8– ALEXANDRU  LUNGU – the magazine ARTA no.8 , 1983 , rubric ATELIER, page 2

                        9 – DAN  GRIGORESCU – the newspaper ROMANIA  LIBERA , August 8, 1983

                        10 – RODICA  PASCU – the magazine ARTA no.8 , 1988

                        11 – OLGA  BUSNEAG – the magazine ARTA no. 10-11-12,  1971

                        12 – OCTAVIAN  BARBOSA – Modern Dictionary of Romanian Artists , –  Meridiane Publishing House , Bucharest  1976

                        13 – ION  ITU – Artists  of  Sibiu , –  Meridiane Publishing House , Bucharest 1977

                        14 – VIRGINIA  STAN – the newspaper DRUM  NOU , November 8 , 1967

                        15 – RODICA IRIMIE FOTA – the magazine TRANSILVANIA no. 2 , 1976

                        16 – PETRU COMARNESCU – the magazine ARTA PLASTICA no. 6-7 , 1969

                        PUBLISHED COPIES OF WORKS:

                          17 – The magazine ARTA no. 1-2 ,1977 “At 3 o’clock we head out “ ink 1976

                          18 – The magazine ARTA no.3 , 1984 “ The Sun on the Table “ oil on canvas 1982
                          The magazine ARTA no.4 ,1986 “ The Grass” aluminium engraving 1983
                          The magazine ARTA no.8, 1980 “ Forest” silk stitches 1980

                          19 – The newspaper ROMANIA LITERARA no. 2, January 1969 “ The Cranes” mixed media 1967
                          “ Still Life 1” oil on cardboard 1969

                          20 – HORIA HORSIA – “ Rodica and Sun on the Table”, – The Small Art Library , Sibiu 1997

                          21 – The album ROMANIAN CONTEMPORARY GRAPHIC ARTISTS – Printed at Polygraphic Entreprise “Arta Grafica “ , Bucharest 1983

                          22 – ART GALLERY magazine Catholic Theological Union “ Metaphors”- Summer 2017 – page 1

                          22 – ART GALLERY magazine Catholic Theological Union “ Metaphors”- Summer 2017 – page 2

                          23 – CHICAGO GALLERY NEWS – May 26, 2017

                          24 – MARIN MIHALACHE – Pictura Romaneasca, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucuresti 1976

                          FEATURED IN : – Rodica Chisu – Retrospective (Updated 2020) – Video – Ioan and Rodica Chisu Art Show 2017 – YouTube – Website – rodicachisu.com – artindex . ro / 2014 Chisu Rodica – artnews . de – Artland Rodica Chisu Email address : rodicachisu@gmail.com BIOGRAPHY Rodica Chisu – born Sarbu – on April 23, 1938 in Sighetul Marmatiei , Romania Married with visual artist Ioan Chisu in 1961. They have two children – Ioana and Daniel. Romanian – american citizen. 1953 – 1957 – courses at the Technical High School for Construction, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 1957 – 1963 – courses of Engraving Arts at Institute of Fine Arts “Ion Andreescu”, Cluj-Napoca 1963 – Master in Engraving Arts 1966 – became a member of the Union of Artists of Romania 1963 – 1990 – art teacher in Sibiu 1990 – immigrated with her children to her husband Ioan Chisu in USA Rodica Chisu ‘s art works includes engravings, drawings, paintings and textile arts. SOLO EXHIBITIONS 1965, 1967, 1975, 1977, 1978 – Gallery SIRIUS , Sibiu, Romania 1973 – Gallery AMFORA , Bucharest 1976 – Gallery EFORIE , Bucharest 1977 – Gallery RADIO TV , Cluj-Napoca 1983 – Gallery CAMINUL ARTEI , Bucharest 2017 – Gallery “ Mary – Frances and Bill Veek “, Chicago, Illinois, USA REPUBLICAN EXHIBITIONS 1965, 1966, 1967, 1975, 1984 – Republican Salon of Drawing and Engraving , Bucharest 1968, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1980 – Republican Salon of Painting and Sculpture, Bucharest 1980 – Quadrienala Decorative Arts , Bucharest 1980 – Republican Exhibition “ Miniature Textiles 3 “, Bucharest INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS 1971 – RIGA ( Latvia) the Exhibition of Artists from Sibiu 1975 – BARCELONA ( Spain ) the International Biennial of Sports 1977 – DORTMUND ( Germany ) the Exhibition of Romanian Graphics 1977 – SOFIA ( Bulgaria ) exhibition “ The Anniversary of Independence of Romania 1877-1977 “ 1981 – WASHINGTON ( USA ) – the Exhibition of Romanian Engraving 1984 – WARSAW ( Poland ) – the Exhibition of Romanian Group 1984 – PRAGA ( Czechoslovakia ) – the Exhibition of Romanian Group 1992 – ARLINGTON HEIGHTS ( USA) – Contemporary Art Exhibition 1993 – ARLINGTON HEIGHTS ( USA ) – Exhibition “ Small Works “ DISTINCTIONS 1985 – First Prize for Graphic Arts at the National Festival of Art , – Bucharest, Romania 1993 – Honorable Mention for Painting at Small Works Exhibition , – Arlington Heights , Illinois , USA 1993 – Grant Award offered by Chicago Department of Cultural Affair and Illinois Council Access Program Works by Rodica Chisu are held in various museums and institutions in Romania, as well as in private collections

                            Video – Ioan and Rodica Chisu Art Show 2017 – YouTube