Hilla Ben Ari - הילה בן ארי
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The female body has always been at the center of my work that spans a variety of mediums including video, sculpture, installations and paper cuts. For me, the feminine body forms a metaphorical junction where private, social and political conventions, restrictions and constructions are fused together. Born and raised on a Kibbutz, I also deal with the constant tension between the private and collective body and raise questions regarding its boundaries and limitations.

In my video works from recent years, the female body is held in near impossible postures. The body appears almost frozen, as if it was part of a video-still. Its sole movement is that of endless, Sisyphean effort, trying to hold and balance the difficult posture it is committed to. The feminine body appears to be in an infinite crucial moment, trapped between its virtuosic flexibility and the painful strain of holding its posture.

As part of my exploration in video, I collaborate with contemporary dancers and musicians with whom I develop the research of the relation between movement and sound in the context of presences of the body.

The duality of strength and fragility is also expressed in the use of paper as a structural material in my installations. I use paper as sculptural matter, exploring the potential of defying its two dimensional characteristics by creating with it seemingly firm, three dimensional constructions. In recent years, I have also been working on  sculptures that resemble supporting structures which actually made of paper. The structures assume the presence of a body while the human body in my works often functions like a structure.

In recent years I have explored various archives, researching the work of several Israeli artists.  This intergenerational research has evolved into a tribute to their work through highlighting  mythical, historical, social and cultural aspects.
 
One such tribute is to the Israeli writer Amalia Kahana – Carmon, known for her pioneering literary work on spatial violence against women. A large scale project titled 'Naamah - a Tribute to Nahum Benari' relates to a critical and profound play that Nahum Benari wrote in 1951. Nahum, the brother of my grandfather, was a writer and one of the founders of the Ein Harod Museum.

​My work generates a dialogue with the gender related aspects of the work of these artists, while at times illuminating the critical attitudes that are hidden in their work, examining the presence and existence of the female body in space.
 


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