Ibojka Maria Friedman (b.1965)
View of Akron at Sunrise from the PNC Rooftop, 2019
Commissioned by Summa Health
Materials: Pastel and interference acrylic on Arches paper, 36" x 26”
Location: Summa Health – Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Tower, Akron Campus, Fifth Floor Hallway (outside patient rooms H5-121 and H5-122)
About the Art and Artist
This luminous cityscape of Akron, seen from the rooftop of the PNC building, was commissioned by Summa Health following Ibojka Maria Friedman’s acclaimed 2018 series of paintings and drawings capturing aerial views from observation decks around New York City. View of Akron at Sunrise represents the beginning of Friedman’s larger project, Urban Aerial Studies from Around the World, which explores the essence of urban landscapes from elevated perspectives.
Friedman’s work balances abstraction and realism, allowing us to recognize Akron’s roads, buildings, and natural features while also inviting a more personal, emotive response. She builds the composition with water-soluble wax pastels and interference acrylic, layering broad, transparent washes of color over a framework of precise, expressive line work. The unpainted areas, where her confident drawing remains visible, are just as compelling as the colors, guiding the viewer’s eye across the city’s complex architectural and spatial relationships.
Her use of color is intentionally evocative, chosen to reflect her emotional response to the scene rather than a strict representation of reality.
Born in Eastern Europe and raised in Northeast Ohio, Friedman experienced frequent cultural shifts as she moved between continents. She describes art as a way to reconcile what often felt like two opposing worlds, marked by “sudden rounds of confusion in which language and social structure totally subverted what I had just learned on the opposite side of the Atlantic.” This perspective deeply informs her artistic approach, blending structure with fluidity, observation with interpretation.
Friedman holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Myers School of Art at the University of Akron and a Master of Fine Arts from Kent State University, both in painting and drawing. In addition to maintaining a studio in Cleveland, she has worked as an arts manager, curator, and marketer, expanding her engagement with the art world beyond her own creative practice.
Where to See More of Her Work
Friedman’s website includes a blog and other writings about her artistic process. Her work has been widely exhibited across Northeast Ohio, as well as in Atlanta, Tampa, Santa Monica, and Wichita. She is represented by galleries in Akron and Cleveland.