Our Story: Jewish Motifs in Painting and Photography
Joint Exhibition: Pavla Parik & Sherry Orbach
On display from Sunday 18 September
Pavla Parik completed a master’s degree in art and architecture. After several years of architectural practice, she fully concentrated on her artwork. She has focused on Israeli landscape, Judaica, semi-abstract paintings inspired by Israeli archaeology and portraits.
Pavla has had several solo exhibitions and has participated in group exhibitions. Her paintings are in many private collections. “To me painting is a bridge between reality and my soul; it is a way to communicate without words. Emotions are an essential part of my creative work. Some of my paintings are realistic, some semi-abstract.
The ability to balance between styles allows me to capture the essence of more subjects.
Usually, I use acrylic paints on my large-scale paintings; occasionally I also use oil paints, especially when depicting atmospheric phenomena in landscape paintings.”
Some of Pavla’s paintings realistically depict traditional Jewish objects while some are more abstract and imaginative in which Pavla displays Jewish symbols with deep spiritual meaning. Although there are no people depicted in the paintings, the artists feel their presence and their relationship to spirituality.
Sherry Orbach has a minor in commercial art/art for advertising. She owned a graphic arts studio in Chicago, servicing clients like Carson Pirie Scott, Marshall Fields, Toys R Us, and Walmart.
She has been a photographer for 40 years, always using Nikon equipment. Sherry began developing film in a darkroom, playing with the use of black and white chemicals for color film. When her children returned to Israel for the army, she travelled to visit them several months per year. Her hikes were always into the nature, mostly off the beaten path, to photograph the serenity of the landscapes and the wildlife. Sherry’s photographs are primarily one-of-a-kind, and not retouched. What you see is what it was at that time because photography is fleeting. Israel is the most spectacular country, and it has always been important for Sherry to make people aware of its intense beauty, so she focuses on absolutes.
Sherry has exhibited in many locations abroad and in Israel, and at one exhibition she was awarded Best in Show, from 200 artists; it was the first time the Juror had ever chosen a photograph.
Sherry’s Judaica photography is influenced by daily examples of current spiritual life in Israel. Sherry says: Although we live in the Holy Land not everyone is outwardly religious; when I find expressions of spirituality, I always feel more peaceful, with a sensation that everything will be okay in the end.
All pieces are for sale with a percentage being donated to Netanya AACI; for details please contact rachel@netanyaaaci.org.il
