I was born in Paris in 1997 into an unconventional and uniquely challenging family. Most of my childhood was spent in the role of "the observer from the sidelines," drawn to the extravagant and surreal characters that populated my childhood world.
I observed as if through a keyhole, though in reality, our home forbade locked doors. "The keyhole" became my first imaginative element through which I saw yet remained unseen, exposed to the full spectacle.
In retrospect, I realized that even as a young child, one carefully selects the scenes they are exposed to, using the mechanisms of memory and repression. I, as the virtual film director of my life, burst into my own existence through art, which became my primary means of expression and healing. In the vast and ancient house adorned with paintings and fantasies where I grew up, my father, mother, his partner, two exes, and my six half-siblings all resided under one roof. Within and beyond the space, dramas and struggles unfolded, originating from everything that stirs the human soul. Struggles of power, authority, intimacy, relationships, identity, money, and sophisticated manipulations played out, with occasional moments of rare honesty, softness, surrender, and fulfillment.
Everything served as a blend, donning and shedding forms as if life were a theatrical spectacle in which actors swiftly change costumes, masks, and scenery. At the age of 13, I transitioned from a closed and dreamy child who sketched and painted into an adolescent where everything erupted from within me at once.
In a sort of inexplicable outburst, I began creating tangible works of art. I started painting in acrylics and oils on canvases and ventured to work on other materials—walls, various textiles, furniture, and collected objects. The clothing and various items I painted expressed my belief that through them, I adorn life itself. Unafraid, unhidden—this art of mine, as it emerged, surrounded me and became part of me, starting with what I wear and where I sit. At 15, I exhibited my works in galleries in Paris and other cities. When my father passed, I unexpectedly discovered my Jewish roots.
Belonging to the Jewish and Israeli identity intrigued and moved me, fostering a deep connection—a connection of my soul to something lost that was absent within me. At 22, I made aliyah to Israel and enlisted in the IDF for full service as a combat soldier in the Nahal Brigade reconnaissance unit. During my military service, I embarked on my renewed creative journey in Israel. Connected to identity, environment, and society, I returned as an adult to the observing place within me as a child—equipped with memories and the ability and privilege to choose.
The firsts steps
From Paris to Jerusalem : An Artistic and Dreamlike Odyssey
The art
"Almost every material I encounter calls out to me to paint on it. To shape it, to breathe life into it. I paint on canvases, on furniture, on textiles, on surfboards, car doors, old signs. In inert elements, I sometimes see lives granted to them by those who used and abandoned them. I listen to them, speak to them with brushes and colors, and infuse them with new life."
In the artist's works, elements of layers and textures stand out, intertwining with everything that has passed and can somehow be reborn. Elements of floating spheres, various wings, wide or closed eyes symbolize in his paintings the ability to observe and listen to the events he raises in his imagination, in his dreams and reflections. In the body of the work, there will always be elements of entrances, doors, and windows, some clear, others hidden, through which one can begin the journey in the artwork.
In many works, there are mysterious and captivating female figures, from whom the artist draws inspiration from famous women like Queen Esther... and he paints images of women telling their story in the journey of their woman's life.
Each has her own universe and place in the world. Their independence and autonomy, their softness, submission, mysteries, delicacy, and concealment in beauty. In the artist's eyes, emotions are the driving force of life. According to him, "it is difficult to paint emotions, which is why I rely on colors and the movement and flow they create, spreading like a journey in life and being interested in what happened before them and what will happen after." The artist's works are an invitation to a journey. Those who look closely will find many doors and openings. Some are clear and others hidden. Their path seeks to engage the viewer in a dialogue, to remember memories, to become aware of emotions, to recall dreams, and to see events, the image, and the spectacle in the silent artwork.