I draw my inspiration from my close surroundings, my family circle and my urban neighborhood. I create from observation and usually focus on one detail, a fraction from the overall scene. I isolate it from its surroundings by erasing the background, marking it with an outline or dismembering it into segments. Using these techniques allows me not only to delay and focus the observer's gaze, but also to create a sense of familiarity and affiliation that originates from the human scale that makes the details easy to absorb.

 

My body of work allows a glimpse into the inner dialogue between the portrayed objects and myself, this dialogue is like bouncing a ball against a wall in a process of carefully selecting the details that articulate the story I wish to tell. This fragmentation is intentional, it comes to break down the complete picture in order to raise doubt, to highlight the absence and point to the isolations. The art piece holds a kind of sincerity with boundaries. I expose the "behind the scenes" of the piece to convey its complexity and depth, while letting go of my control over the meaning by leaving holes in the narrative to allow the spectator to fill in the gaps with their own interpretations.

 

The use of familiar symbols like: family, mother, tree, porch and everyday utensils supposedly evokes intimacy but in fact those symbols remain enigmatic to the viewer. They refuse to reveal all they carry as if their backs are turned towards us. This comes to signify that we are in uncharted territory although it looks familiar.  We actually don’t know its secrets and what is the true meaning behind the portrayed image.  The artistic expression brings us to the realization that the perceived reality is never objective or complete. The attempt to categorize it ends with superficiality that is as distant from reality as the distance between the oil portraits that are filled with nuances of color and emotions to the simplistic and grotesque Lego portraits.

 

The use of a wide range of technics in my art, from drawing to embroidery through painting and building with Legos, allows me to connect through the action to different parts in myself and my past. Through the use of embroidery I reconnect to the maternal presence in my past and the Legos take me back to that playful girl playing beneath her mother's feet while she embroiders , both sharing a quiet moment in an intimate space that I seek to recreate.  My artistic work, in all its range, continuously touches the aspiration to preserve. If it is to preserve a bit of nature in urban surroundings, if to preserve an intimate moment in the home environment, or to preserve the memory and image of a mother as a significant presence even years after she's gone.