Artist
Statement
I am an Israeli artist who has been painting and sculpting for over fifteen years and who had studied at one of Israel’s finest art schools. I was raised in a Jewish-Orthodox home and although I lead a secular life the verse from Leviticus (19,4): “Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourself molten gods” still influences my work. My sculptures are deformed, broken and incomplete and yet they evoke beauty and empathy in the viewer. My paintings are also inaccurate, blurred, without a face but always gazing into the beholder’s eyes.
I have staged two exhibitions that were named: “a different gaze” and “a glimpse from there”. “There” is the place I came from – Orthodox Jewry with its “physical prison” (the obligation to dress modestly) and its “spiritual prison” (the prohibition to watch films and television and to read certain books). My background influences my nudes and they are never blunt or detailed.
The subjects of my work come from photographs I take, mainly of people. The large canvases I paint (250cm x 130cm) stem from my need for freedom and space, which cannot be expressed, in a smaller medium. The large format of the billboard gives me the flow and release from inhibition needed. My work starts with a figurative sketch – with a thick black line- on which I layer the rest of the composition using mostly primary colors. Those allow for an instant result and strong expression.
My work corresponds with hope, the past and the future. It is very primal, expressive and creates a modern, almost abstract, style. In my paintings I express the freedom I never had as a child. They reflect a look from the restrained, introverted past into an overwhelming worldliness. The size of the work amplifies their gaze into a strong statement, almost a cry.