A retrospective glance
My assumption is that every
artist's career develops in different periods of his life.. The artist's work is part of his life - it
grows with him or her and goes with him or her through events, struggles,
victories and defeats. Art accompanies the artist each step on the way.
Consequently, most artists change the content and style of their work at
different stages of their lives. Through art, an artist sometimes finds
expression for his or her feelings, sometimes a mean for an internal dialogue
or for an intimate search for the more profound meaning of things, sometimes
simply a withdrawal from reality into a higher sphere. This, for example,
explains much of the artistic creativity that I witnessed in the concentration
camp at Theresienstadt.
My creative activity has gone through several
periods, though all, ranging from the relatively figurative paintings of my
youth to the more abstract paper works of my recent years, have been strongly
influenced by my personal experiences in the holocaust. At the same time,
turning to nature is characteristic of my latest period, embodied by the very
fact of creating my own paper from plants.
The subjects of my paper works are mainly
expressed abstractly. I would like to give here an example what I wrote at my
exhibition in
"…..Copies
of pages from my diary, which I wrote during the German occupation in the Theresienstadt ghetto – therefore the childish handwriting –
and which, besides a small fragment, has not been published before, were inserted into some works
exhibited here. Some parts of the diary are legible, others not so readable. My
purpose was not to bother other people with my personal destiny. It was to
share the experience of entering "the landscapes of darkness in the
soul" with the viewer. These "landscapes" are preserved by
others among us, buried deeply inside them, in recesses of their souls, where
all is dark, uncertain, unknown. Paradoxically, it is precisely in this domain
of spirit that we can find clear outlines of forms, those which represent
anxieties and hopes. My works seek to give these an expression. The pages where
my diary is not present are inspired from my life afterwards.
The process of
producing handmade paper is a lengthy one, but I shall try to describe it in
short:
I gather
different suitable plants, cook them, crush them into separate fibers, color
and mould them, press and dry. (Sometimes, instead of plants in their natural
state, I use remnants of cotton rags or I recycle old paper). During this
process I undergo something of spiritual experience, feeling that I am entering
into the sphere of the essential. My work aims at expressing this sense of essence,
which is hidden in the material itself.
When possible,
immediate contact with nature has been an important part of my life. Above the
entrance of the Botanic Garden in
" He Is Happiest Who Hath Power
To Gather
Wisdom From a Flower"
I have the
feeling that one, who draws strength and inspiration from plants, and lives
among them, walks hand in hand with Eternity. It is this feeling which provides
a strong motivation for creative activity and characterizes my work.