SYNA, 2019, Avital Avital
Photo: Hadar Saifan
What
Porcelain; wheel thrown, hand sculpted
Who
Avital Avital, b. 1963
Why
“Part of my sculptural concern is with the life cycles of plants and flowers, as well as with shattering the boundaries of the ceramic medium. In a new series of sculptures centered on rounded inflorescences, which resemble marine creatures or microorganisms under a microscope lens, the imagined movement of the feelers or fibers transforms the nature of the image and our understanding of it – as threatening or seductive, aggressive and prickly or flexible and sensuous.
The porcelain powder of which they are made may call to mind the metamorphosis of the porcelain granule into liquid, and then into a solid material once it is fired. The porcelain granule is thus akin to the seeds contained in the stamens, which give rise to flowers and plants.
The work features a white vase composed of stamens that are about to spread their particles through the air, eventually leading to the colorful blooms represented by the surrounding microorganisms.
Like life, which is complex, my work is Sisyphean, demanding and challenging.”
Photo: Hadar Saifan
Photo: Hadar Saifan
Where
On display at the Rothschild Gallery, Tel Aviv Biennale of Crafts & Design, MUZA – Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv.
