BIOGRAPHY
Maria Rogal spent her formative years traveling internationally
and has lived in Laos, Peru, and Liberia. Her transcultural background
influences her work, which focuses on visual culture, design, and identity.
She is at work on several projects that investigate the impact and relevance
of graphic design and visual culture in the Americas. In these projects
she explores how new visual languages develop through cultural assimilation
and hybridity. Included among these is an interdisciplinary (art, design,
anthropology & ethnography) collaboration entitled The MIRA Project:
Multimedia Interdisciplinary Research in Anthropology (www.miraproject.org).
In this project, she investigates cultures of consumption and commodification
of cultural belongings and identities. Her writing, including “EthnoGraphic
Art”, “Mexico: My, Your, Our Fantasy. The Problem of Flatness
in Intercultural Representations of Mexicanidad", "Radicals
with a Voice/Radicales con Voz", and "South of the Border...Down
Mexico Way" also explores the aforementioned themes. Her art and
design work has appeared in several national and international juried
exhibitions, including the Islamic World Graphic Design Biennial (Tehran),
Arte Digital 6 (Havana, Cuba), and Graphic Responses, a special section
of the Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition. In 2003
she was the recipient of a Fulbright Hays Fellowship to México
and Costa Rica.
Rogal studied political science and history at Villanova University, PA
where she received her B.A. degree, and worked in the international development
field before beginning her education and career in graphic design. In
1995 she received her M.F.A. in Design and Visual Communication from Virginia
Commonwealth University where her research focus was on design and social
responsibility. From 2000–2001, she worked in Atlanta as a senior
designer for Sapient, working on projects for international clients, including
concept and design for a Global 1000 Latin American energy corporation
and for the Dutch bank, ING.com. Since 1997 she has been on the School
of Art and Art History faculty at the University
of Florida where she teaches courses in graphic design with an emphasis
on the intersection of design and culture. She is an Affiliate Faculty
of the University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies.
Christmas 1972
I received my first camera – a Kodak Instamatic. I suspect this
marked the beginning of my love for photography.