The concepts of my artwork are based on every day life. However, the context created by the works presents a different content.: The series of drawings 'Wanted' (2007– 2008) , for example, utilizes the format of the familiar wanted ads found in newspapers and redirects the viewer to a different conceptual world. The red cow from 'A Red Cow Wanted' (drawing, 2007) series, or the concepts of prophet and chariot in the work'Prophet and Chariot wanted for a full-time job' (drawing, 2008).

 

The scenes in the works are based and constructed on memories, dreams and texts. Some present recognized landscapes: desert, forest and an ocean. However, underneath this preliminary interpretation one may find unknown spaces calling upon the viewer to search for a way – a study made through art and culture. See for example the series 'the Spies' (drawing, 2007) and 'Egypt, Egypt', (painting, 2008).

 

The image of a lantern or a candle in some of the works is an expression of the search for a fragment of history, culture and knowledge that have scattered around space, time and culture. In this way, the image of a detective-spy, who picks up the pieces and brings them back to the current reality, appears repeatedly in the works. In the world of Hasidism this action is called 'picking up sparks' – which means bringing back the lights that sustain the world, to their source in the infinite light. This is man's destiny in the universe. My work attempts to 'pick up sparks', too – formulating a new meaning that contains the past in our renewing reality.

 

I choose traditional tools utilized by the art world – painting and drawing – and find myself dealing with two ends: one, my control of the material, which could lead to narcissism and the other - the material's control over me, which may perhaps lead to fetishism. I attempt to contain both ends, while refining the dangers latent in each one.

On the one hand, I determine the format and type of color in the works; on the other hand, when I overload layers of materials or dilute it completely – an unexpected freedom is created.

I have learned that in the language of the cabalists, the different aspects of God are called Sphirot. The Sphira (the sphere in Jewish mysticism) of knowledge represents the link between the mind and the emotions. As for human beings, imbalance or detachment between these two types of directions might cause narcissism or fetishism.

The series of drawings, The Tree of Knowledge, 2008, depicts dismemberment: hand, foot, mind or heart. But the tikun (amendment) results from the new link between the mind and the emotion in the location of severance – weeds, bushes and trees grow from the wound, and new life is created.

 

translated and adit by  Yoav Cohen: www.yoavtranslations.com