Almost Paradise / Lena Zaidel

I have always been drawn to places that somehow defy definition. Most of them I discovered in the garden supply stands along the roadside on the way to Jericho. For many kilometers along this road, it seems as if rows of decorative statuettes of animals, birds, fruit, and dwarves have sprouted out of the sand like an army of ghosts.

After my initial excitement at coming so close to these strange statuettes, I discovered in this place something that I had never previously noticed. Looking down the long rows of plaster statuettes, I pondered the realness of their presence and the possible existence of some original. I questioned if there really was one singular statuette after which they all were formed. Was there in fact such an original? I looked at the pillars adorned with plaster leaves, covered with a coarse layer of grey-brown paint. Obviously they are an imitation of something…, but of what, exactly? What style are they trying to imitate? What is the meaning of this theatrically scattered arrangement of mysterious statuettes sprouting out of the sand? Perhaps it is nothing more than a random collection of Mediterranean- style kitsch decorations?... Or is there something else hiding here?

The Stone Eagle, 2014, acrylic and charcoal on paper, 105X300, Photo: Michael Amar

Pondering the enigma of this huge collection of statuettes standing as a silent witness to, or as the background scenery for some drama unfolding on the roadside, I began to sense another characteristic of these scenes: all of these places have been transformed into ex-territory. After all, such garden supply stands are scattered throughout the country, and usually appear to be suspended between worlds. They seem to float in some geographically, politically, etc., undefined metaphysical dimension. In other words, they give the impression of existing somewhere, beyond time.

And indeed, these places seem to appear exactly the same even after many years, as if the laws of time do not apply to them.… And obviously, in an ex-territorial dimension between worlds, where an observer is forced to confront the question of copy and original – anything can happen, such as, Almost Paradise, a local, Mediterranean drama with no finale….

The flowings of blue in the Almost Paradise series symbolize the flow of life and the flow of ideas. The blue drippings filled the drawings and became an integral part of my sculptures. Reflection upon the concrete animals on the roadsides gave rise to the idea of a paradise that has frozen in the sands. During my work on the series, I saw images before my eyes of a concrete-and-plaster paradise that is entirely imitation and copy, yet at the same time entirely a longing for a “real” paradise…. The sculptures I made are directly connected to the “original” of the garden supply stands that I discovered on the way to Jericho. My dialogue with “place” and “original” was conducted through the two-dimensional drawings and ultimately returned to three dimensions in the form of blue-and-white sculptures.
 

Adam and Eve, 2014, acrylic and charcoal on paper, 105X280, Photo: Michael Amar

In my drawings I intentionally exaggerated the dialogue between the living and “breathing” things on the one hand, and the “objects,” on the other hand: between “real” life and still-life.

In Almost Paradise, the concrete ducks surround the colorful parrots who seem very much alive. The gushing of the fountain is juxtaposed with the lifelessness of plaster chickens, plastic apples, and clay pitchers. A concrete eagle tries to take off while harnessed to a heavy chariot laden with clay ducks, pitchers, and flowerpots. A koala bear naps on a tree branch over an abandoned café that is gradually fading into the yellow mist of the landscape. Two pink flamingos walk toward the concrete flowerpots that are arranged like sarcophagi and that pompously exhibit plastic fruit and giant mushrooms. The images of these fruit and mushrooms brings to mind the pagan fertility rites.… A pile of random objects surprisingly brings to mindrecalls the postmodern sculpture of the end of the last century.… And the tree? The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil grows humbly in the left-hand corner of the drawing, while another tree stump lies behind the flowerpots, blending into the grey dust.… Adam and Eve float on the water, their hands stretched out to their sides. Water spouts from their mouths. They are floating in a sea of unnecessary objects.… Where are they floating to?

 2015

The Wolf and the Lamb, The sculpture from the series Almost Paradise, 2015, 135X20X20 cm, Agripas 12 Gallery, Jerusalem

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