Artist's notes
Noa Isabel (BFA Painting and Drawing; Minor, Israel Studies)
I have created this multimedia collage as a celebration of and a window on 70 years of Israeli history. It is made up of eight panels. Each of the first seven panels represents a decade in Israel’s history between 1948 and 2018. The panels progress chronologically from left to right and, when observed together, present the viewer with a symbolic version of the Israeli flag. The eighth panel, while aesthetically consistent with the other panels, stands alone, and has been created to show the relationship between Canada and Israel from 1948 to the present day. The collage has been made using multimedia watercolor paper, oil paint and found images. It includes 19 portraits painted in oil across the work, depicting the twelve Prime Ministers of Israel as well as other politically and culturally relevant figures.
The main goal of this work is that it serves as a celebratory “highlight reel” of some of the big moments and influential people, cultural creativity and political successes as well as technical innovations and international relations that have shaped the Israel of today. The work also takes into account the innumerable challenges and hardships, crises and conflicts that are part of the fabric of Israeli history, although sober reflection is not the dominant theme. This work should not be regarded as an all-encompassing historical record. It goes without saying that the entirety of Israeli history cannot and should not be reduced to seven panels.
This brings me to the difficulty I faced while constructing this project; namely, deciding what would and what would not make it into the final piece. Israel’s history, though comparatively short at 70 years, is incredibly complex. This fact weighed all the more heavily on me because I am a relative newcomer to the subject. It was clear to me, however, given the scope of Israeli history, that certain subjects, such as the religious history of Israel and Israeli-Palestinian relations, were deserving of their own dedicated projects. There are elements of both these subjects in my work, but they have not been brought to the forefront in light of my decision to focus instead on a celebration of the highlights of Israel’s history as a whole.
The process of creating this work required many hours of reading and researching before I even set foot in the studio. It has been a real learning experience for me. I am finishing this project with much more knowledge of Israeli history than I began with in September. I am also finishing this project with the understanding that there is much more for me to learn both as a student of Israeli history and as an artist seeking to give meaningful expression to consequential ideas and issues. Going forward, I have recently added Israel Studies as a minor to my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and I can think of no better way to begin my studies than by creating this piece, a combination of two of my passions – painting and learning about Israel.
– Noa Isabel
