BREAKING AWAY- series of six
Being a Woman Artist and a Mother is a long life struggle… In 1997, after being introduced to Israeli sculptor Shulamit Hartal and her wire mesh sculpting technique, I was trapped in the metal mesh, that is my main sculpting medium ever since. In 2000, after my wire mesh sculptures &reliefs were displayed at a large Sculpture Show (Tel Aviv, Israel) I felt that my imagination became my dominant and the house became secondary to the sculpture. At night, while my family was asleep I went to work in our basement, longing to be on a deserted island where I could spend more time working on my sculptures. The island stayed in my dreams, but the emotional situation created the Series of 6 reliefs:
BREAKING AWAY
Medium: wire mesh, concrete, paint, glue
The center of each relief is a semi abstract female figure, made out of airy wire mesh, connected to a concrete frame, and attached to clear Plexiglas. The frame gives a feeling of heaviness, a lot of pressure on the woman in the closed framed space. The concrete frame has folds giving impression of softness. There are also openings allow one to look in the outside world and come back inside. I like to explore life dichotomies; there is strength and softness in my works and the contrasting materials I use. The wire mesh is rigid and sharp yet flexible, the finished semi transparent works are inviting to touch their flowing lines. On the other hand the concrete is a soft material to begin with, but when it dries becomes hard and solid, still creating a soft impression.
BREAKIG AWAY 1: HEARTSTRINGS - Mother&Child
(2000, 2011) Size: 18”x16”x3”
The center of this artwork is a square of ethereal wire mesh shaped as a semi abstract seated woman embracing her child that is seating on her lap, his head is one of her breasts, mother and child as one body, she can’t let go. It looks like a delicate swift line drawing of a private moment. The airy square is connected to concrete frame that gives a contrast feeling of heaviness, the frame painted white color with shades of gold around the edges - a gold crown to motherhood. In Mother’s life there are always delicate or heavy weights important things that need her solution. Mother and child are connected with invisible heartstrings from the time child needs to be very close to his mother until the time mother needs to be very close to her child.
BREAKING AWAY 2: MOOD (2000, 2011)
Size: 14”x14”x3”
BREAKING AWAY 3: BLUES (2000, 2011)
Size: 15”x15”x3”
BREAKING AWAY 4: White (2000)
Size: 20”x19”x3”
BREAKING AWAY 5: Silver (2000)
Size: 14”x12”x3”
Breaking Away 2, 3, 4, 5 are different struggles of semi abstract wire mesh women with concrete frames, leading to the last and different relief no.6 BREAKING AWAY 6: A Woman Artist (2003,2011) Size: 18"x16"x4"
The woman’s body is more abstract, her head is out of the frame but the wire mesh and concrete are still one piece. A Woman Artist can’t walk away, but she sees the world in a different gaze….
In the year 2011:
- I removed the Plexiglas and repainted the reliefs
- Blues became part of the permanent Art collection at Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY
