Story and photos by Cailin Acosta
Cailin Acosta
Rose Mizrahi with “Summit’
SAN DIEGO– “I was born in Mexico City and lived there until I moved to the United States when I was 21 years old. I have been painting for 20 years, and my previous works include ceramics, sculptures, and drawings. I love working with textures, mixed media, and acrylics. I create the content in all my distinctive paintings” explains contemporary abstract expressionist artist Rose Mizrahi at her exhibition being shown at the San Diego Public Library’s Point Loma branch.
On Friday, August 29, I met Mizrahi, and we discussed art and Judaism. Mizrahi comes from an artistic family; her father created quilts by hand, and her sisters leaned towards painting and sculpture. Mizrahi’s love of the arts has only grown over the years, inspired by the breathtaking works created by her late sister Mily Sidauy, who acted as Mizrahi’s mentor and was a sculptor and painter in Mexico City.
Mizrahi’s paintings are created with acrylic paints, but she likes to incorporate other materials to give them a 3D feel. In her Mixed Media creations, she has incorporated pieces of cardboard, resin, and mesh into the paint. She has been painting for more than 20 years, and before that, she was making ceramics. She said interests change and shift as we age, and she is now fully devoted to painting and creating in her studio on Kettner Boulevard in downtown San Diego. Her granddaughter is into graphic design and has helped her create fliers with her paintings to promote her exhibits.
When Mizrahi was 21 years old, she visited her sister, who was living in New York and was married with two young children. She fell in love with the city, and her sister set her up with a shidduch (matchmaker).She went on a date, and three months later, they were married. They separated many years ago, and he lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
Mizrahi has three daughters and a son. As her children have grown and left home to create beautiful families of their own, she has been blessed with grandchildren and great-grandchildren (she does not look old enough to be a great-grandmother!). Her son lives in Brooklyn, New York; one daughter lives in Cleveland, Ohio; and her two other daughters live in the Los Angeles area. She now has more time to focus on her career as an artist. She enjoys traveling and is inspired by the natural world around her. Her current goal is to continue to share her art and chase the joy in creating that has been with her since her childhood.
Speaking of traveling, Mizrahi mentioned that with the High Holidays coming up, she will be going up to Los Angeles to celebrate Sukkot with her two daughters, her sister, and many family and friends in the area. They have a sukkah in the backyard and look forward to eating meals there as a family.
When asked about her faith, she said she doesn’t fall into a certain category, but she celebrates all the Jewish holidays and goes to synagogue for services. Her daughter in Cleveland, she says, is Orthodox. Her granddaughters, who live in Queens, New York, are Orthodox as well. One of the granddaughters has four or five children, she said she has lost count; the other granddaughter got married recently and is pregnant, so Mizrahi will be a great-grandmother again. Her nephew is a Hebrew teacher and lives in Israel; he is very religious. She attends the Chabad at La Jolla for services and enjoys the rabbi. When her daughter lived here in San Diego with her family, they attended Beth Jacob Congregation. .
When asked what her favorite Jewish holiday is, she said Simchat Torah. She enjoys this holiday since it is a lot of joy, a lot of laughs, and dancing and singing.
When asked which one of her paintings is her favorite, Mizrahi pointed out one of mountains titled “Summit.” She was on vacation at Mammoth Mountain and got the inspiration to paint when she got home. Mizrahi doesn’t focus on just one genre; if she feels like painting a landscape, then she does, if she feels like painting something in space or cosmos, then she does, which makes her art unique in spanning different genres.
She pointed out the paintings that have movement and draw other conclusions to the eye. She enjoys paintings that have movement that includes marine life and the ocean. We agreed that movement in the water creates many different colors depending on the weather and atmosphere. She does not paint faces or portraits since those are difficult to make accurate sketches of.
“Serenity Lake” is a lake she imagined, but got inspiration from a vacation, and imagined the water hitting the rocks. Up close, the rocks have paper infused in the acrylic paints to give them a feel of the roughness of the rocks.
“Tree in the Woods” is an acrylic painting inspired by a vacation in the Redwoods.
‘Falling Leaves’
“Falling Leaves” is a mixed-media piece that incorporates real leaves from a trip to Cleveland. There were piles of leaves in a park when she was visiting in the Fall, and she carefully brought them home to San Diego to incorporate into a painting. I wondered how to keep the leaves intact, and Mizrahi said not to be timid about trying something new when adding mixed media.
“Multitude” is a mixed media piece. When stepping back and observing, many faces can be seen in the shadows.
Multitudes
Mizrahi has been inspired by great artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Jonas Gerard, and many more. She paints with a heavy hand that transfers much emotion, energy, and enthusiasm towards all of her creations. Mizrahi showcases both liberal uses of color and muted, bleak landscapes, carrying a free-spirited power behind her brushstrokes. She has worked with many media over the years, including oils, acrylics, pastels, charcoal, and graphite.
Click here for more information on her website. The exhibition will be at the San Diego Public Library’s Point Loma branch until Tuesday, September 30. All paintings on display are for sale.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.