The Crusher / Portraits made of crushed paper

Michal Karmon’s exhibition at The Artists House in Jerusalem is called “The Crusher”. It is a collection of portraits of artists, musicians, authors, philosophers, as well as cinema and theatre personalities of the last century – some more famous, some less – who are close to the artist’s heart and form a kind of personal pantheon for her. The portraits are made out of crushed and reconstructed paper using a special technique. The minor coloring is achieved by working with the paper, allowing the images to surface out of it. The spirits of the portraits that emerge demonstrate their persistence in prevailing over the evasive power of memory and the danger of being crushed and forgotten by coming generations. Along with the portraits, there is a group of works that reconstruct in paper scenes of meaningful historical events. Crushing and reconstructing paper is a symbolic and physical expression of the act of forgetting and remembering and its effect on our changing cultural world.

Michal Karmon