Dori Schechtel Zanger
Neve ziv, israel
You don't know how much you are running until you stop.
All that surrounds me and influences me eventually shows up in my work.
I am a narrative ceramic artist. I’ve always been fascinated by the ability of ceramic work to tell a story. Images on a three-dimensional object give me a visual language to communicate wordlessly with the viewer. I try to evoke thought and contemplation; my work has a critical dimension and carries a message. Environmental issues, social injustice, and war have been the critical themes of my work.
The Coronavirus era has changed that. With the lockdown, social distancing, and the threat of disease—along with the realization that there is no-one to blame—my focus has turned inward. Locked at home, with a sense of helplessness and uncertainty, I was left alone with my feelings, fears and hopes.
I am usually motivated to create for the exhibitions, symposia and residencies in I want to take part in; their external timeline determines my schedule. When everything stopped, so did my motivation.
But after a short period of emptiness and shock, something new emerged.
I found myself the center of my own story and discovered a new urge to create, regardless of the world around me. What emerged was a series called Thoughts of a Jewish Mother—the things that overprotective, worried mothers tell their children, but now with a humorous angle.