this year I was selected among 29 other artists as finalists (out of more then 4450 participants) at the ASHURST Emerging artists prize.
they requested that I answer a few questions about the painting that I applied with "Auto portrait in Paris 2019" .
I usually don’t like to speak instead of my paintings, I believe the painting should transcend visually what the painter wants to say, but I will point out a few anecdotes that are important to me:
- I was born in Israel a country that lives by the sword and dies by it, the intensity and cultural dichotomy that exists there is profound.
As a child growing up in a mixed culture that resented each other (the west and the East) had tremendous impact on me, it is prevalent everywhere in Israel but even at the micro level of my individual life, my father is an Israeli with Iraqi roots and my mother was an American white women with western European roots, it was hard for me to find my own identity as an adolescent and even today as an adult I have problems to bridge the cultural gaps within myself and not to mention in my torn country.
But fortunately I think I found a way (to bridge the gaps) and harmonize the duality, thanks to the fact that I am a painter and artist, in the creation of art there is room for every culture, this is why I made this auto portrait, I wanted to capture myself as a product of mixt cultures and as living proof that dualities, deferent religions , different cultures and races can coexist in harmony and piece and even create something beautiful, a work of art.
-the painting has Items that symbolize the 3 main monotheistic religions in my homeland Israel, Tphilin for Judaism a Keffiyeh for Islam and hammer and nails for Christianity.
-I made this auto portrait in my new country of residence France , I moved here 2 years ago and I felt a bit alien to the country, but it offered me a new way to see my country of origin, and since my studio is surrounded by immigrants I felt this painting is also relevant to them and our situation as outsiders.
- it’s interesting even my first name and my last name are proof of the duality I grew up with, Sam (western) Rachamin (middle eastern) family name.
The painting will be exhibited in London from 20th May until 26th July 2019.
The adress of the gallery is :
Genesis Imaging, Hurlingham Business Park, Sulivan Rd, Fulham, London SW6 3DU, UK
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