This work comprises part of a series created by myself, which engages in the autobiography of my family. The young girl is holding an authentic Russian mask adorned with a headscarf, as is customary among Russian women. This mask was hung in the bedroom of my grandmother.
This series was inspired by the private diary of my grandmother, which she had brought from her homeland, whose writing commenced when she was a young electrical-engineering student in a gymnasium in Russia and continued after her immigration to Israel as a grown woman.
The series engages in the historical story of my family and in the various characters who played a prominent part in it and created the familial lineage, which is intertwined with the complex story of the establishment of the state in which I was born and of their ordeals prior to their arrival in Israel, as well as thereafter.
I created an imagined encounter between myself and various characters belonging to different generations of my family by use of historical, personal belongings which were either brought by members of my family from their homelands or originate in Israel, where they built their home. At times, the objects are integrated into the wide array of Israeli landscapes, and at times – into imaginary dark rooms.
