The Hug

About the artist

Catalina Novac is a writer and visual artist currently devoted to abstract painting, which she studies under the guidance of painter John Blee. Her artistic journey is intertwined with a rich academic and cultural background. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Rochester, where she worked under the mentorship of Professor Richard M. Ryan, one of the leading researchers in the fields of human motivation and well-being. In Romania, she studied at the Faculty of Letters in Bucharest. With over 30 years of experience in education, research, and cultural affairs in the United States, she has collaborated with institutions such as the University of Rochester, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), George Washington University, George Mason University, and Northern Virginia Community College. She has carried out cultural and educational initiatives in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Romania, USAID, and the Council of Europe, and has contributed to research projects for international organizations. She is the author of Romanian Gulag: Long-term Traumatic Experiences of Imprisonment and Their Impact on the Well-being of Political Prisoners and the poetry collection Love and Ciresul Japonez (Japanese Cherry Tree - currently under print). Her poetry, prose, and articles have appeared in Romanian literary journals, and she has received four national awards for short fiction. In 2004, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in International Education in Germany. In her literary and artistic work, Cătălina Novac explores themes such as happiness, well-being, justice, truth, and the human experience, seeking in art a space for reflection, hope, and transformation.