A stroke of artistic desire

Elia Powers

It’s finals time, and that means all-night study sessions for UCLA

sophomore Alexandra Nechita.

Unless, that is, she gets a sudden inspiration for one of her art

projects. Then, it’s anyone’s bet if the schoolwork gets done.

“I can’t say how many times I’ve stayed home painting because I

didn’t want to go to class,” Nechita said. “It’s so hard for me to be

as passionate about school as I should be because I have so many

things I should be doing.”

High on the list: returning messages from Michael O’Mahoney,

president and chief executive of Wentworth Gallery.

He’s booked at least eight of Nechita’s art exhibitions and is

continually looking to do more. This weekend, he was able to pull

Nechita from her nest in Westwood for a pair of appearances at his

galleries in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.

One hundred of Nechita’s works will be on display at each gallery

during the one-night shows. Her paintings are priced anywhere from

$4,000 to $170,000, O’Mahoney said. And most come with a bonus: a

live conversation with the artist.

“People want to meet Alexandra and discuss the art with her,” he

said. “When they buy a piece, they want to have a sense of what the

artist was feeling and doing when she created the piece.”

When patrons talk to Nechita, they aren’t likely to hear the voice

of a 19-year-old. Her dialogue is void of the “likes” and giggles

that define some teenage vernacular.

Nechita points out that she has lived a very grown-up life.

“Ninety percent of the time, I’ve been surrounded by

40-year-olds,” she said.

Her parents fled Romania and immigrated to Los Angeles in the late

1980s. Nechita began drawing and coloring at age 2, and was given the

name “petite Picasso” because of her free-form paintings.

Nechita graduated from Orange Lutheran High School two years ago,

and the school put her name on its performing arts center.

She has been voted one of People Magazine’s 100 most interesting

people and, as an adolescent, was asked to appear on a handful of

syndicated television shows.

“She is a perfect example of what a young artist should be,”

O’Mahoney said. “She’s not a prima donna, and she is talented in more

than just a technical way.

“She has something that very few artists have: an ability to

infuse her feelings in the work.”

Nechita paints in fits and starts, often staying up through the

night to finish projects. There are times when she wishes she had a

more typical college lifestyle.

But not this summer, when, instead of searching for a temporary

job, she’ll be traveling through China, France, Italy and Singapore,

promoting her art and visiting galleries abroad.

Taking art and art history classes at UCLA has helped Nechita grow

as an artist, she said. She’s known for her acrylic paintings on

canvas, but is now taking on glass blowing and sculpture.

Nechita recently finished sculpting a 10-foot-tall bronze monument

that she says is a message of peace and goodwill.

She said she plans to do seven sculptures and send one to each

continent as part of an independent project.

And she has even taken a shot at narrative writing. For a painting

called “The Wine Taster,” which is featured on her website, these

words accompany the piece:

“Fading behind us was a narrow, winding road; quickly becoming one

with the horizon, as my folks and I were driving through the

countryside. I found myself, again, counting the hours left to our

destination, staring at the patterns of stretching vineyards,

interrupted here and there by electric poles and fruit and vegetable

stands. I felt pasted on the countryside collage of green valleys,

fast moving cars, grape leaves and lonely billboards.”

Nechita said she is as positive and optimistic about her work as

ever, though some science and math classes tend to get in her way.

“I’m obsessed with what I do,” she said. “It started off as a

hobby and has turned into an obsession. It’s irritating at times, but

it’s nice to be so in love with something.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.