Page 54 - The Woven Tale Press Vol. IV #9

Re ection
oil on canvas 54” x 69”
“My work, which investigates the relation between image and abstraction, contains numerous layers of signi cance shaped by processes of guration and abstraction, revelation and
concealment. The question of painting is present in my work alongside biographical, political and social questions related to Israel’s history.
In this body of work, my departure point is the memory of my Moroccan grandmother and the distinct posture of her hands while sitting in her arm- chair. I used a photographed image of my own hands, same position, in my mixed-media works on paper. That led to the creation of bigger works on canvas that used the hands image, but sometimes turned it into abstrac- tion. Elements of architecture from my childhood neighborhood resonate the way architecture was used as a tool by the state to control the socio- economic mobility of immigrants from North Africa. Thus the personal memory becomes a platform to raise questions about social, political and
45 racial issues that divide and cause rifts in the Israeli society to date.”
GIL desIANo BIttoN