Shushbina, 2017, Meira Una

Photo: Hadar Sifan

What

Black stoneware; slab building

Who

Meira Una, b. 1947

Why

“For the past several years, I have been developing a technique of working with a black material, flattening it until it becomes a sort of canvas. I then prime it, creating a ground made of white porcelain, which “neutralizes” the swallowing of the pale colors by the black material. This enables me to paint on the surface, while also etching into it.

The result is a large, heavy surface that cannot be moved as a whole, since its weight would cause it to tear. I now cut it into pieces (detaching the painting from its context), using the different parts to create forms. The interplay between the painted surface and the sculptural vessel creates a new reality, which I can neither predict nor reproduce. A reality in which the whole exceeds the sum of its parts. The adventure, or surprise of the unpredictable result, is the incentive for the creation of the work.”

Where

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