Chava Epstein uses a color-ceramic technique to sculpt gatherings of figures, posed in an interaction of observation. The figures examine what is there to see, whilst trying to understand the source of the eye\/spring (in Hebrew both \u201ceye\u201d and \u201cspring\u201d come from the same root) that is concealed behind.
\nIn the series of meditation cards, \u201cThe innocent\u2019s journey to the source of the eye\u201d, that relates to introspection, Epstein cast the masks from her own face. Every mask represents a different aspect of life. In \u201cLittle Sumo\u201d\u2019 Epstein examines outward observation. In this sculpture the artist created her own figure as a Japanese doll, thus depicting her personal involvement with the enchantment of a foreign culture. Old photos of Epstein\u2019s paternal family, some of whom were killed in the Holocaust and others spread around the world, were the source of \u201cReunion with the Past\u201d. In this sculpture series the artist examines the past\/her past.
\nIn the sculpture series \u201cObservation\u201d Epstein examines what happens in a gallery space. The eye contact, which occurs between the sculptures and other displayed figures and the viewers, highlights the variety of materials \u2013 from the spaces of time, place and symbolic existence.<\/p>\n
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\nThe exhibition comprises sculpted groupings of figures posed in an interaction of observation. The figures examine what is there to see, whilst trying to understand the source of the eye\/spring (in Hebrew both \u201ceye\u201d and \u201cspring\u201d come from the same root) that is concealed.
\nIntrospection: The masks for the series of meditation cards, \u201cThe Innocent\u2019s Journey to the Source of the Eye\u201d were cast from my own face. Every mask represents a different aspect of life and shows the innocent figure at the center how to deal with world\u2019s contents, and how to combine them with the figure\u2019s characteristics.
\nOutward observation: Represented by \u201cLittle Sumo\u201d, my own figure in the form of a Japanese doll, thus depicting my personal involvement with the enchantment of a foreign culture.
\nExamining the past: Old photos of my paternal family that were the origin of the sculpture series \u201cLet Thy Fountain be Blessed\u201d enabled a reunion with the past, with hope for the future, with family relatives, some of whom were killed in the Holocaust and others dispersed around the world.<\/p>\n
Let Thy Fountain be Blessed (Proverbs 5:18)
\nI chose this phrase (after a book of the same title written by Baruch Halevy Epstein, a family relative) to characterize the series, which I signed with my original name \u2013 Epstein Halevy Benbenishti.
\nIn the sculpture \u201cLet Thy Fountain be Blessed\u201d that opens the series, I sculpted my father when he was about 10 years old, sitting to the left of his mother and brother. My sculpted father sits on the book of his life and the many paged family legacy. The floor is a deposit of torn letters from his father, mother and sister \u2013 letters he kept for his entire life.
\nI added to the photographic collage in the background the opening page of the book Let Thy Fountain be Blessed and the last sign of life that was sent to him by his mother: a postcard from Warsaw, written in Yiddish with the date: 28.8.39 (Four days before the outbreak of World War II).
\nAs his daughter I know that that same boy would dare to leave his rich family, to forge a new path (just as his Hebrew name, Peretz) and build his life in Israel. I know that the existential sadness that spreads over his face will accompany the bitter fate of these photographed family relatives \u2013 his mother shot dead in a mass grave in Pinsk ghetto, and his brother led from Warsaw Ghetto to the gas chambers with his wife and five year old son.
\nI also know that the future of this branch of the family rests on my father\u2019s shoulders, son of the Levy tribe and a respected old Spanish family, Benbenishti. A family of many well-known Rabbis, most termed \u2018great light\u2019 or \u2018great genius\u2019, and from hence came the first Israeli president (and another one\u2026), and before him also the \u201cPillar of Fire\u201d.
\nThe little smile and my sculpted father\u2019s look of hope contain my knowledge that as a result of his personal decision to come to Israel, he might also achieve \u201cLet Thy Fountain be Blessed\u201d \u2013 he would be the only one to have children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, all connected to their race and their historical homeland.<\/p>\n
Observing what Happens Outside: In the sculpture series \u201cObservation\u201d there is eye contact between the sculptures and other displayed figures and the viewers. They highlight the variety of materials \u2013 from the spaces of time, place and symbolic existence.<\/p>\n
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