Alexandra Rozenman - Featured in The Artful Mind
- Art School 99
- 5 hours ago
- 8 min read
Artist Update
ALEXANDRA ROZENMAN
VISUAL ARTIST AND TEACHER
Interview by Harryet Candee - Photographs courtesy of the Artist
30 • FEBRUARY 2026 THE ARTFUL MIND
Originally Posted on yumpu.com
“Art will always be a significant part of the human story, so people will always be hungry for it.” —Alexandra Rozenman
Alexandra, can you tell us a little about your family history growing up in Moscow?
Alexandra Rozenman: My great-grandfather was killed under Stalin when my grandfather was eight. Anti-Semitism limited my father's education and career, even denying him a promised Gold medal at school. My aunt emigrated to America in 1976, and our family was always waiting for the right time to leave, surrounded by dissident friends.
You trained with underground Soviet artists who became acclaimed émigrés. What is one lesson from that time that most shapes your current work?
The main thing I remember from that time is Grisha Bruskin telling me that I should be able to draw as well with my left hand as with my right. He also gave me Russian translations of Van Gogh’s diary to read. Experiencing his original work and seeing him create his pieces had a great influence on me. At that time, Grisha was working on his Alphabet Series—watching this process gave me a new perspective on symbolism and has become foundational to my current approach.
Here in the United States, people learn special things from artists who work outside of the academy. In this respect, there is no change in freedom. The main thing my teachers taught me was to be myself.
Did you want to leave Russia?
I didn’t want to leave Russia because I couldn’t speak English. However, after immigrating, my mindset changed—I thought artists should live in New York City and did all I could to become an abstract painter there. If I had stayed in Russia, given the changes it underwent and how young I was, I would have become a more conceptual or performance artist.
After your BFA and MFA, you moved from New York to Boston. What prompted your move?
Love.
When you settled in Boston, your paintings became theatrical stages for storytelling. Can you recall the first painting in which you recognized this new direction?
When I moved to Boston, I experienced a white period with foggy paintings that served as a bridge from my abstractions to narratives. Very few survived, but I still have “Russian Fog.” These “Fogs” were abstract, and later I focused on creating beautiful, dark light, beginning to include text in the paintings. I recall a painting called “5AM and Red Curtains,” which resembled a theater set or a window view at 5AM. This painting marked the transition toward narrative works, signaling the beginning of my shift to storytelling in my art.
Since 2016, you have been a core member of Fountain Street Gallery in Boston. How has this community influenced you over the years?
After returning to Boston in 2010, I aimed to join a cooperative artists’ group. Fountain Street, first in Framingham and later in SOWA after a fire, needed more members. Marie Craig’s system of two-person shows and curated themes helped push me creatively and fostered growth.
In 2018, you had a solo show titled Blind Dates at Hudson Gallery. What inspired that title, and who were the participants in these 'blind dates'?
They were dates with famous artists. This series followed the “moving in” series and marked a playful new phase. I am appropriating the work of famous artists with a Jewish sense of humor. In each case, I insert my story and my taste. Some would say it’s artistic necrophilia, but I hope people don’t take it too seriously. There is obviously a tradition of parodying famous works of art. It’s not everything I do, but it’s like a game of commentary that artists might engage in. The whole idea of masterpieces chokes creativity because the best art is the art you haven’t seen, so at least you can laugh a little about it.
The first artist I “moved in” with was Matisse. I’m sure I’m reflecting on both influence and my personal journey. I discovered Modernism at age five. I had two series of these before in the 90s. One was called “People Taking Showers,” and one was called the “Rethinking” series. Maybe I will come back to them at some point in my life. I still like the idea.
You had two-person shows with Nora Valdez (2020) and Lior Neiger (2022). Why do you enjoy collaborating?
Collaboration began for me at Fountain Street, under Marie Craig's encouragement. With Nora and Lior, we connected through our shared immigrant experiences. I created pieces specifically for these shows, especially after 2021, blending my collages with Nora’s 3D work.
Tell us something about Art School 99. How do your students influence your work?
I founded Art School 99 in Allston, MA, in 2009, after moving from the Midwest. Its philosophy: “Where Paint and Ideas Mix Well.”
Lately, I have developed some pieces based on my students' work. Two specific pieces come to mind. “Where Are You Now?” And “Maine, The Way My Student Told Me”.
I really enjoy teaching talented teenagers these days. They are full of energy and really listen, and it's exciting to watch them progress.
I had a dream for many years to have a school, and now I really enjoy unfolding it. It’s a real business, and I work at the school almost every day of the week. As it has grown, it’s become a part of me.
The school is mainly for adults, but I recently added a children’s after-school program. On Saturdays from 11 - 1pm, I have a mixed group of teenagers and adults.
My purpose in founding the school is to help students discover their talents. Sometimes they feel they cannot paint, but I am here to provide a structure and work with each student, helping them develop their skills in the visual arts.
I want to help find their self-expression through visual language. I feel positive about the connections and the future in science, computers, and the visual arts.
Your art explores both ‘continuity’ and ‘discontinuity’ in contemporary art. What has been broken or lost in contemporary art that concerns you?
Modernism was not legal in the Soviet Union until 1987 under Gorbachev. This was the first time I saw the painting “Black Square” by Malevich. A lot of art was rediscovered from 1985 onward. In this sense, ‘continuity’ and ‘discontinuity’ collide. Although the reasons here are political. One might say that ‘discontinuity’ is going against an idea after it’s served its social and artistic purpose. ‘Continuity’ suggests that many of the old ideas about drawing and color remain valid.
I worked on a conceptual work called “Black Square. This was the beginning of my “rethinking” series. This would be a kind of continuity. Nothing in contemporary art was abandoned, so there is “continuity”.
When I was in art school, people tried to say that painting was dead and tried to entice us to move to video or performance art. Maybe this is one example of discontinuity. The discontinuity of movements in art has raised questions, and in response, I remain committed to painting.
You've shown work in group exhibitions in cities like New York, Boston, and Moscow. What impact have these international experiences had on your development as an artist?
Let’s add Paris, Minneapolis, Rome, Chicago, and Los Angeles to that list. These international experiences made me less provincial and more aware of the wider community of people committed to making art. However, I don’t think I have a broad view; like many artists, I am self-oriented and aware of my own limitations.
What are the creatures you call Kind Monsters in your art?
Kind Monsters began in 2016, when my writer friend and I came up with the idea for a book blending sci-fi and fairy tales. The story, inspired by both literary ambition and current events, is set in a small Eastern European village during a war following an apocalyptic explosion. It follows a couple who survive and discover they no longer have their original faces or heads, yet still love each other. The Kind Monsters series was also sparked by the war in Ukraine; much of my family is from Ukraine, though I have never visited.
How has your art practice evolved since the lockdown?
After lockdown began, I started a collage project that lasted from 2020 to 2022. Since then, I have continued making collages in many forms, including printmaking. My recent direction is the first set of handmade collage books (three completed, with a fourth in progress). These were purchased by my old friends and a collector as a gift for their 45th wedding anniversary. Writers, musicians, and artists are often drawn to these books, perhaps because you can flip through them like any book.
At this time, I am working in three different mediums; Collage books are part of my life. I continue painting, and then there are my drawings.
And what else can you tell us about your life lately?
I have been in a relationship with an artist, improviser, and performance artist, Eric Zinman. One of the things that interests him is live painting in collaboration with music. He has worked with painters Linda Clave and others.
How are you continuing to collaborate with other creative people?
In October 2023, I made live drawings with FMRJE, featured on YouTube. Parts of this work appeared in recent collages at the Lichtundfire gallery in New York.
Collaborating across disciplines continues to inspire my practice and open new possibilities in my art. I look forward to deepening these connections and exploring the ways in which creative relationships continue to shape my journey as an artist.
This experience was challenging and fun at the same time because there were artists trying to paint the music, the musicians, or ignore both and just paint the energy. I had to figure out which way to go.... My direction ended up going in all three directions. It was very inspiring. I did this twice in 2023 and again in February 2024, and it is still in progress. I have been surrounded by all these musicians, each playing a different instrument, with video cameras set up all over the room. I did not have an easel; I had a table, and worked on 11’’ x 14” paper. I had to work fast because the music was fast. I would start a lot of pieces and not finish them, and go to the next page. At the end, I would have a pile of unfinished pieces. The reworked pieces came out pretty great and were included in the Lichtundfire gallery show in New York City, summer 2024.
Currently, I am working with photographer Mari Saxon on several proposals. We work together as fairy-tale/surrealist artists and have included Kind Monsters in our new proposal for the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA.
What galleries are now representing you?
Three galleries currently represent me: Kingston Gallery in Boston, Foundry Street, and Gallery 360 in Minneapolis (collage work). As of November, I was accepted as a core member at Kingston Gallery—one of five new members. It's a strong group of artists, and I hope to have a really wonderful show there this summer.
Alexandra, how does it feel to be an artist and a art teacher in 2026?
Not sure, but maybe it’s the same as always. Art hasn’t been a serious topic of discussion since the 80s, but as we are increasingly technological, we know that art is the most reliable evidence of who or what a human being is, their thoughts and feelings, that one human differs from another. Art will always be a significant part of the human story, so people will always be hungry for it.
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