About Silvia Licht
Silvia Licht is an artist living in
Jerusalem, active in the field of Hebrew Art. The collection she
is currently creating arouses interest and earns praise in Israel and around the world.
Licht was born in Argentina in 1971. Her father, born in Russia, arrived in Argentina after fleeing Nazi
Europe, while a large part of his family died in the Holocaust. Licht immigrated to Israel in 1988, and
from 1992 to 1994 studied art at the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem. During the years from 2002
to 2006 she managed the studio of the artist David Gerstein in Jerusalem.
Today, Licht has a studio at the New Gallery artist's workshops in the
Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, where she formsher own unique artistic style and language. Her art reflects an extraordinary conceptual perception,
drawing its inspiration from both the Old Testament as well as from the works of the artist Jasper
Johns. Over the past ten years Licht has been developing a distinctive technique involving collage,
using laser cuts, as well as letters cut out from newspapers and pasted onto canvas. You will find her
art in black and white in addition to others sporting a variety of colors influenced by Middle Eastern
Kilim rug patterns. Her works include geometric lines and designs nurtured by her knowledge in the
history of art, graphics, philosophy and Judaic studies.
Licht’s collages are unique and meaningful. On one hand they are strongly connected to the Old
Testament, to ancient buildings and holy places in Jerusalem, and on the other hand to modern art.
She combines letters and numbers to piece together reality and to represent components of Jewish
history and tradition, and weaves them together into a story which is part of a broad cultural and
historic narrative. All this is joined by modernistic knowledge which Licht has acquired over the years
dealing with electronic music, video and multimedia. She has even produced movies which have
been presented at Israeli Film and Animation Festivals, and within the context of alternative art
studies.
Licht draws her topics from the very heart of Israeli society, and her work reflects social and political
critique. Some of her compositions are inspired by paragon works such as Michelangelo’s “Creation
of Man”. For those who enjoy humoristic art, the artist has developed a series of works that use play
on words and letters as a way to address universal questions.
Licht is one of the new and promising artists in the world of Israeli art these days. Her contribution is
of a singular kind, where her use of unique designs of biblical texts with innovative techniques is met
with respect by all those who hold the subject close to heart.
Dr. Shirat-Miriam Shamir
Jerusalem 2006