We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rod Cusic a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rod, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Art has been my life long preference for expressing myself.
I have been inspired by my role model artist and inventor Leonardo DaVinci.
Year Abroad at the “Universita’ Internazionale dell’Arte, Florence, Italy (1972-73)
Studied: Leonardo DaVinci Inventions, Designs, Paintings and Sculptures.
Author: “Lunar Experimental Laboratory” article, published April 1973,
in “Cinquemattoni” the Italian Design Magazine.
Solo Art Show ‘Aesthetic Science’ at Moorhead State College, MN. (1973)
Focused on ‘Science, Technology, Engineering, ART and Mathematics’,
including Geodesic Domes, Laser Holography, Sculpture and Paintings.
Invited Exhibitor at the “American Painters in Paris” Art Show. (1975)
Oil Painting: “My Lady” (62″x88″) inspired by Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”.
EDUCATION: Inspired by DaVinci’s Art and Inventions and U.S. Space Programs.
• 1969-76 Completed curriculum for Bachelor of Fine Arts – Painting.
• 1974-76 B.S. Aviation Management from Metropolitan State, Denver Colorado.
• 1976-85 B.S., M.S. & PhD. Aerospace Engineering from University of Colorado, Boulder.
PROFESSIONAL: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and ART.
Aerospace Engineering Career, with continued Painting as a life-long passion.
• 1980-84 Research Assistant and Internships working on USG R&D contracts
• 1985-90 Conceptual Designer and System Engineer at Grumman and Lockheed
• Adjunct Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech (fall86-spring87)
• 1991-99 Chief Engineer and Program Manager on contracts at Skunk Works
• Adjunct Professor of Aerospace Engineering at CSUN (fall90-spring91)
• 2000-14 Vice President and Program Director at Lockheed Martin & Skunk Works
Art Career Business “Rod Cusic Fine Artist”, started 2014 website: rodcusic.com
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Rod Cusic: Brand – Fine Artist Aerospace Engineer
My name is Rod Cusic (Ph.D.)
I create original storytelling art, using simple language and scientific method logic, to inspire a curious person to open their mind and enjoy stretching it around broader views of Reality.
My art education focused on Renaissance and Impressionist ‘figure-landscape’ oil painting.
Leonardo Da Vinci is my role model since my study at the International University of Art in Florence.
His enduring diverse creations inspired me to be both an artist and an engineer.
My Artist Engineer Brand focuses on creating “TRUTH” based composition rich storytelling paintings, inspired by two unique Truth Telling individuals among the greatest thinkers of their time:
Ben Franklin, America’s Renaissance Man sparked, my “Patriot Series Justice TRUTH”.
Albert Einstein, Earth’s Renaissance Man, ignited my “Cosmic Series Reality TRUTH”.
My desire is to create an original body of work, mastering use of handmade photo-luminous paint to control images in (3) different light conditions (Daylight, Blacklight and No light).
I combine my art and engineering skills to compose image-paint-lighting storytelling, with figures, objects and events evolving in otherworldly quantum-spacetime-sea-landscapes.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Otherworldly Quality
Many people are looking for art that’s otherworldly.
I create art inspired by Einstein, Van Gogh and Jefferson Airplane, which will transform your walls into 4-Dimensional SpaceTime.
My “Cosmic Images” use Van Gogh’s “post-Impressionist techniques” to visualize Einstein’s life and thought experiments led to his celebrated body of work, which ranks among humanities’ greatest creations, according to multiple generations of scientists who have scrutinized and respected his work for more than a century.
Following Jefferson Airplane, I’m humbled “feeding my head” by stretching my mind around Einstein’s “General Relativity Physics”. I create physical reality-based composition rich images and storytelling Cosmic Art, to share with my followers!!
Storytelling Skill
Fabrik Projects BIO draft for Rod Cusic
Artist Rod Cusic creates composition-rich artwork overflowing with storytelling. His unique focus using photo-luminous paints combing wet and dry pigments truly separate him from the crowd. Stemming from traditional figure and landscape art, he has mastered the incorporation of natural light, black light, and even the absence of light when presenting his large-scale artworks. While building a prolific career as an Aerospace Engineer, Cusic continually pursued his life-long passion of painting. His artwork has been featured in numerous art exhibits across California, including Santa Barbara, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes and Santa Clarita.
My images are created using Einstein’s mindset using thought experiments to visualize images that capture the physical reality about cosmic events and objects. Refer to an audio book titled, “Einstein – His Life and Universe” authored by Walter Isaacson.
Magic without Lies Knowledge
I create original storytelling art, using simple language and scientific method logic, to inspire followers to open their mind and enjoy stretching it around broader views of Physical Reality.
My Raison to be Seeks and Shares Reality with Truth Storytelling Paintings and Videos.
Seeking reality excites and requires explorers using their Intellect to understand sufficiently advanced Science and Technology that’s indistinguishable from Magic.
Let’s not do it because it’s easy, but because it’s a hard challenging act of discovery.
Cosmic Series
My strong attraction to study cosmic science came from my respect for TRUTH tellers, specifically the scientific community, regarding Einstein’s work in theoretical physics. Einstein’s enduring creations have withstood the test of time, surviving intense scrutiny from hundreds of the world’s top scientist colleagues, for more than a century. My Cosmic series intends to apply Einstein’s Cosmic mindset to create composition rich story-telling photoluminescence artwork, with exotic events and objects in Energy-Mass-Quantum-SpaceTime-Artscape.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Mentors for Rod Cusic an Artist Engineer.
My art education focused on Renaissance and Post-Impressionist ‘figure and landscape’ oil painting. Leonardo Da Vinci, the Renaissance Man, created art and engineering body of work, which has endured over 500 years, energizing me to follow and learn from him as my career role model.
My career and creative identity, as an artist and engineer, was driven by (4) events (1972-80) and the (4) mentors, who helped me align my career aspirations and skills. Thanks to Da Vinci and my (4) mentors, I started a very fulfilling “dream career” as both an artist and an engineer.
1 – “Year Abroad” (1972-73) in Florence, Italy at the “Universita Internazionale dell’Arte” and was initiated by my art professor and art director at Moorhead State College in Minnesota.
My studies included Mixed Media, Cinematography, DaVinci’s designs and an assignment to author an article on my design for a “Lunar Experimental Laboratory”, published April 1973, in “Cinquemattoni”, the Italian Design Magazine, which was translated from English to Italian by my Italian best friend.
2 – “One Man Art Show” (Fall 1973)”, involved my physics professor at Moorhead State College, providing advice and holographic equipment to integrate into of my Geodesic Dome sculptures.
The title of the Art Show was “Aesthetic Science” at Moorhead State College Art Gallery, focused on ‘Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics’. There were two Geodesic Dome Sculptures, one with a Ruby Laser Beam activated by a photocell and the other with a Holographic plate, which projected an image of an American Astronaut on the moon, holding our U.S. flag.
3 – “Invited Exhibitor” (1975) to the “American Painters in Paris” Art Show, was arranged by my art professor at Metro State College in Denver, to teach me marketing of my art.
“My Lady” – Mixed Medium Oil over Acrylic (62″ x 88″ framed) was conceived by study of paintings for many hours at the Uffizi Museum Gallery, absorbing Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”.
I was so inspired by his work, that upon my return home, I created my own painting, which was shown at the 1975 “American Painters in Paris” Show. Acrylic medium was used lay down the composition of hand-picked pressed dried flowers, then Oil based paint and mediums used to finish the painting.
4 – “NASA Apollo 15 Astronaut” (1979) my mentor James Irwin who was also an Aeronautical Engineer, Test Pilot, USAF Pilot and served on NASA Apollo Program as lunar module pilot and moon walker.
He bought three of my abstract encaustics paintings and knew that I was inspired by DaVinci’s 15th Century aircraft design and 20th Century U.S. NASA Space Programs. As I requested, he advised me, to pursue a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, if I wanted to work with NASA.
Contact Info:
- Website: Website: http://rodcusic.com
- Instagram: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodcusic/
- Facebook: Facebook: Facebook.com/RodCusicArt
