Porcelain Past, 2019, Aya Margulis-Ben Izhak - Eretz Israel Museum

Porcelain Past, 2019, Aya Margulis-Ben Izhak

 
Photo: Aya Margulis-Ben Izhak

What

Porcelain, COB LED bulb, electronic components; mold casting

Who

Aya Margulis-Ben Izhak, b. 1980, in collaboration with Rae’ut Stern

Why

Aya Margulis-Ben Izhak is an artist, ceramicist and industrial designer. Her multidisciplinary approach is evident in this work, which is composed of a porcelain tea set. A number of the pieces contain photographs from the album of the Glushkin family, found in a storage space in the yard of the family’s home in Talin, Estonia, in the aftermath of World War II. Margulis-Ben Izhak chose historical photographs and a style characteristic of early 20th-century European tea sets in order to allude to the fate of this family during the Holocaust. Like a recurrent traumatic memory, the photographs set within the pieces momentarily reveal the family members, gradually concealing them again as the light dims. In this manner, Margulis-Ben Izhak invites the viewers to reflect on the ability of domestic objects to contain memories, while alluding to loss and oblivion.

Special thanks to Madlen Kanziper and Veronica Schouroucht.

Where

On display at the Migdal Gallery, Tel Aviv Biennale of Crafts & Design, MUZA – Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv.