Avital Sheffer exhibition opening: Unearthed II
By Paul Donnelly, curator, Powerhouse Museum Sydney
I am very honoured that Avital asked me to open this exhibition of her
beautiful and inspiring works. Thankfully serendipity played a part in
bringing me here tonight because my colleague, Grace Cochrane with whom
many of you will be familiar, suggested that the subject matter of Avital’s
work may be appropriate to my speciality of ancient ceramics. Most
fortuitously, this connection is strengthened further through Avital’s and my
own mutual region of interest – the Middle East.
For Avital of course, this region represents far more significance than mere
academic interest. Avital has an intensely personal connection to that part of
the world which is clearly evident in her work. As her birthplace and home
for several decades, the presence of the Middle East in these vessels is
understandably all-pervasive and multi-faceted. It is no accident then that
Avital has chosen clay as her medium of expression, for it is clay that has for
millennia provided the people of this part of the world with vessels for food
and drink; effigies of their gods and goddesses; tablets for their written
records; ovens for their bread – and in unbaked form – mud bricks for their
dwellings and defensive town walls.
Fittingly, we see facets of all these elements in Avital’s work. The forms are
both anthropomorphic and architectural – a pleasing combination
considering the dependence of each upon the other; for what is architecture
without people to give it scale and purpose? The dome, a form that has
fascinated Avital since childhood, dominates many of the pieces, playing the
combined role of cover, head, and roof. Integral to the form are specific
details that bring to my mind associations with ceramic vessels of the
ancient past. Vestigial ledge-handles and pierced lugs similar to those made
in periods dating back five thousand years, reveal the degree to which Avital
has made an intellectual choice through familiarity with the ceramic
repertoire of the ancient Middle East.
This measure of intellectual effort towards form in Avital’s approach is
complemented in the surface treatment of these works. In enlightening
discussions with Avital (which she is happy to share upon request), she
identifies each and every Hebrew text to particular Jewish works in
collections from Toledo in the west, to Istanbul and Jerusalem in the east.
Additionally, the floral motifs, geometric patterns, and arabesques, originate
from Jewish and Islamic texts, and architecture. In addition to their use as an
aesthetic choice, these significant combinations of Hebrew and Islamic
motifs reflect Avital’s moderate political position, and her associations with
the peace movements of Israel.
Clearly these works are loaded with meaning on many levels, and there is
much of Avital in every vessel. Through evoking the past of this rich and
complex region, Avital provides a bridge from her new home to her old.
Similarly, for us as observers, the detail and technical competence of these
works command our attention, while being inevitably filtered through our
own range of associations. As demonstration of this, and despite having had
the pleasure of Avital’s explanations of her work, I see in these vessels wall
tiles in Damascus and Istanbul, and henna tattoos of the Bedouin. To me the
overlaying of text and diagrams are analogous to the passing of time, with
the blurring of archaeological layers requiring separation and interpretation.
Clay is a powerful medium in its ability to evoke the individual. We see here
around us the conscious products of an artist, but there will also be evident
on their surfaces and hidden in their interiors, unintentional scars and details
connecting to the activity of their maker. In the case of ancient pottery this
can be a particularly powerful connection to the past. Fingerprints and
runnels in the clay are like frozen connections to countless individuals long
gone and nameless, but leaving their traces nevertheless. This was notably
demonstrated to me a few years ago while in the process of drawing a
complete early-Iron Age jar at Pella in Jordan. I had already spent time
drawing the whole vessel and in passing noted the less than pleasing
decoration on one side of the body. However, when it came to measuring
these apparently meaningless splotches of paint a thought occurred to me. I
placed my right hand over the pattern and in an instant it was obvious that
these were the traces left by an ancient hand once covered in paint, and who
had held the vessel in exactly the same position. In a fleeting moment, three
thousand years disappeared before my eyes, and an ancient Canaanite potter
lived.
It is with this vision of the personal power of clay that I will leave you to
admire the works that surround you – to ponder the details of their form and
decoration, and to explore the associations they evoke.
In some way, these vessels are the past of us all.
Paul Donnelly