Hedva Atlas Ben David - Till death do us part

Back

"...When you woke up we made love as we always did
And you gave in to your passion with no guilt
....and then disappeared
This poem is a prayer for your return"

Mordechai Geldman [from the poem "You've disappeared"]

The Wedding and Relationship paintings I draw ask and seek secrets encrypted beyond the hug, the touch and the matching footsteps in the dance. There within the painting are bits and rips of the family life, not passed up by the ups and downs of the 20th Century. I searched through the photo album for pictures of me and my parents, and then I came across the wedding photos. And so my work began; searching for signs and signals, body postures, smiles and expressions that will lead me to a deeper acquaintance. Here are the faces of the mother and grandmother, touched by wrinkles of concern… the bride sits and prays, embarrassed, dreading an unknown future.

The photo thus opened up to me and allowed the painting to plow its way towards an understanding of past processes. This obsessive need to re-meet the extinct past has led me to many unanswered questions. How does it occur, a husband and wife becoming two very close people or two strangers? And what is the secret of love and hate among people of the same sex or two different species? Here they appear and grow, move and breathe right in front of my terrified eyes. The parade grows bigger and wider, expands and surrounds me and there's no getting away.

Hedva