Dwora Fried grew up in Vienna, Austria with her mother and father; her mom was a Holocaust survivor and her father fought for reparations for the people who survived the Holocaust.
Growing up, no one talked about the war but Fried could tell that something had happened to her mother.
In order to learn more about the war, Fried would go to her father’s office to read the files of the people he represented.
“My life growing up with a person who went through such a horrible tragedy… only she and her sister survived but the fact that she never talked about it was really traumatic for me because I could feel that something horrible happened,” Fried said.
“I was always frightened of everything and I didn’t know what would trigger my mother if I said something wrong or behaved in a certain way that she might be so triggered that she would go crazy and have a heart attack and die.”
When Fried graduated from High School, she moved to Israel where she went to Tel Aviv University and Avni Art school.
“I started with photography and from there I started doing collages with photographs that I took and then I wanted to add an element of movement.”
Fried would have a dream of her photographs moving, similar to the iPhone feature where you tap on a picture and it moves a little, but she had this dream before the iPhone came out.
This led to her becoming an assemblage artist, she uses a box as a canvas to create three-dimensional art pieces that move and bring together elements from her past and present.
She has several different series such as her “Flash Back Series,” “Fairy Tale Series” and “Toilet Series,” which can address controversial issues.
On her website, under “BOXES,” anyone is able to look at all her different colleges and series she’s made in the past.
Fried also had to juggle raising her kids, her job and doing her art.
She would go to work during the day, make sure her kids had food, do their homework and go to bed. Then at night, she would finally have time to work on her art.
Now that her children have all grown up, she can dedicate more time to her art, “Now I can go and do my art whenever I feel inspired,” Fried said.
“I don’t have to schedule my work time versus my art time at all because I’m retired from my work and I do art full time.”
Fried offered advice to aspiring artists, “When it comes down to making your own art you make your own rules.”
“Don’t let anybody tell you what to do, not to do, what is good and what is bad.”
She encourages everyone to explore their own creativity and to keep creating despite any rejections they may face
“Keep doing what you want to do and think about what inspires you, makes you happy and keep doing that,” she said.
Fried’s art is currently on display in the Art Gallery at Cerritos and will remain there until March 10, students are welcome to view and even participate in her art until then.
