Growing up just one hour north of New York City, in Mohegan Lake, New York, Mogul’s earliest influences include her paternal grandmother, a self taught artist and her great aunt, a painter, Emily Kravzov who married the painter and printmaker Emil Ganso. As Russian immigrants, they shared their value of both the fine and applied arts, music and poetry. Visiting their working studios forged strong childhood memories in Mogul’s psyche as well as the visualization of a woman’s life as an artist.

An undergraduate degree in art from SUNY New Paltz, brought Mogul in contact with the renowned painter and teacher Manuel Bromberg. Bromberg’s background as a New Deal artist, and his innovative sculptures, casts of Catskill Mountain cliffs, offered Mogul a strong traditional background and garnered her appetite for experimentation. With a growing interest to leave the North and live and learn about the American South, she left New York to attend graduate school at the University of Georgia. Here, in the 1980’s, amidst the dynamic cultural boom taking place in Athens, Georgia, particularly in music and film, Mogul brought all of her interests together. Her involvement with painting, performance art, puppetry and experimental film found strong support and fertile ground for development.

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