Between Past and Present

The recent works of Bat-Ami Helerman are not easy to define. Despite Bat-Ami’s use of real objects, the main components of her works are items made of stone, amazingly life like. Bat Ami knows there is “No parallel between the element of surprise in art and in life” and therefore makes use of two types of objects: real objects, and stone-made “life like”, “as if” objects that contradict the real objects. This is the contrasting effect required for artistic surprise. The comparison between the stone-made objects and the real objects in a realistic surrounding creates the “Necessary distance from reality to create the artistic value” Bat-Ami’s method is to cause the stone to be perceived as a concept and not as a material. The values of eternity, strength, closeness to earth, artistry and other characteristics related to stone, pass from the stone into the object it is expressing. (Tanya Preminger, Curator)