Yifah Adir and her works
The two paintings by Yifah Adir displayed here serve as an introduction to her series of Embodiments in clay, her preferred medium today, in which she produces an array of sculptures using a very different and focused approach.
The paintings reveal the prior context of the current images. They portray what appear to be figures seeking the meaning of life as they wander on dazzling light-toned backgrounds in a distant reality. Aided by the finger-like marks—an indication of the magic taking them over or of their incorporation into the drama—they slough off their connection to the past and eagerly draw nearer to the life that is right there on their doorstep. It is a sign of the spiritual foundations granted to them and to the animal kingdom.
We then move on to the sculptures in the large hall at the entrance to the museum. Embodiment VII and Embodiment IV are figure-like shapes whose hands and fingers are raised as if expressing the joy of contact with overt spirituality. They convey a feminine power that is both rich and fertilizing, evoking inner strengths, the feminine and masculine qualities within each individual. The spiritual intimacy which flows through Yifah Adir is a different sort of wellspring that brings enlightenment and benefit to others.
The artist creates with immense passion, displaying a symbolic movement toward a thrilling human aura. She conveys this vibrancy in Embodiment VIII through the channel of the arms, which have become like wings with splayed fingers, as if flying toward the realization of the shared goal—self-fulfillment—in a personal or family journey.
As we pass into the central hall, we find two sculptures, elongated figures like goddesses who communicate the features of various civilizations, particularly the ancient east. The figures are constructed of flat links that surround an inner space containing an essence woven like a tapestry along the length of the figure. The contours of the goddesses’ raised heads are not human, nor is the image the same.
Embodiment I in the lower hall shimmers with the thrilling sense of holiness that passes through us like a golden thread. Yet each of us has his or her own tendencies that lead to the development of qualities which make us unique individuals, and perhaps there is a god, or a goddess, who controls our fate?
There is an awareness here of a connection between the links which split and unify the body at one and the same time, of the clasped hands that merge with the calm and calming pose of the figure. The links are like cells, as well as pieces of the mythology itself. All the feminine and masculine components come together and are heeded to create a balanced harmonious personality that develops inner qualities, constructed one upon the other, whose influence is felt in a different manner in different periods of our life.
In her Embodiments, Yifah Adir creates the image of an inchoate figure. Starting with the feminine form, she works the clay, seeking to realize the common denominator among the weighty organs and to connect them all. As she ties the systems together so that they are not left exposed, she takes care to provide a small window above her secret, profound, and self-contained world through which she gazes upward to the traditional site of God in human consciousness.
Ina Aruetti, Curator
Personal Details
1957 Born Ra’anana, Israel
1975-80 Studies at the Ramat Hasharon School of Art
1987-90 Studies art therapy at Leslie College, Tel Aviv
Group Exhibitions
1992 Permanent exhibition, G.O. Gallery, Haifa
2002 Payis Eshkolot, Ramat Gan
2002-3 Oshi Friedman Gallery, Yakum
Solo Exhibitions
2000 Gallery of Contemporary Art, Kadima
2001 Oil Press, Ein Hod
2002 Permanent exhibition, Studio Gallery, Old Jaffa
Translated by Sara Kitai