ART Habens
Maya Gelfman
You said it well, art as a key to find personal interpretations. I perceive myself as a channel. I tap into the creative energy that was here long before me and will flow on long after I ' m gone. I really do feel privileged and blessed by this open connection to the marrow of subconsciousness. I perceive my works as a testimony of my experiences, whether first-hand or cultural. In a sense, I believe that a good work of art is much bigger than the artist that makes it. Of course there is a direct reflection of my own expansion in my work, but it ' s just the beginning of a story and not the whole of it.
Art changes and evolves. While being " in progress ", it ' s in the artist ' s territory. But once accomplished, it stands out in its own right and it ' s up to the work to establish meaningful interactions with its surroundings. I always leave spaces for others to fill. My works are not hermetically sealed. On the contrary- they aim to be extended and amplified.
So naturally I also don ' t see it as a conflict relationship between content and form, but rather as an interlaced network in which every movement or intention, both physical and metaphysical, leaves an impression and dictates a certain narrative and atmosphere. I use aesthetics to lure the viewers and sooth first reactions, in order to reveal a deeper meaning that might be perceived as deterring otherwise. But I never aim for shock value just for it ' s own sake. Acknowledging the complexity is a path to finding catharsis. In my early drawings, which I did in the years after my graduation, the color scheme was naive and minimalist( mind you that as a student I was " all over the place " when it came to colors and materials). At the time I felt that I could make up an entire universe with a pencil and a red pen. And so I did, in a subtle yet disturbing way, I drew figures and situations floating in white space.
With time, layers appeared and my drawing became increasingly obsessive. The bare color pallet gained some flesh as I struggled to weave together past, present and future. It was a time that I plunged head first into a personal abyss, mapping my journey and examining the findings, so to make some sense of it all. I started using mixed media again. The red, white and grayish lead were accompanied by black, gold, silver and fluorescent yellow. I used thread with which I meticulously embroidered thin papers, cut outs made with aluminum foil and parchment, and so on. I wanted it to appear as a drawing at first glance but the longer one looked at it, the mixed media, bits and pieces were exposed.
The series that was created that way is the one I ' ve referred to in the last paragraph. Large, colorful and expressive paintings, made in broad gestures and overlapping layers. In their making I sought to break free from familiar patterns and push beyond my comfort zone. This series has basically two ground rules:
. Each work is limited to one continuous session. That is a period of designated time, ranging from one to several days and nights, during which I keep as much as possible within the domain and the mindset of the work. If it doesn ' t feel finished after a session, I put it aside and move on.
. Like meditating, I let all that comes be and become. Automatism and scrutiny- I observe, think, feel and sense, but I don ' t dwell on either. Most importantly, I don ' t stop painting to give any of them time enough to mature and take over the wheel. Instead, I gather them all onto the paper and continue to work without making order of things. The painting is the one that leads the way as it developes.
I other words, I immerse myself completely in a meditative process of laying out layers, while keeping explicit analysis at a hands reach, just hanging a few inches above the canvas. There is a clear general connection between the new and previous works. The " handwriting " is recognizable
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