Artist's Statement
When I first met modern and conceptual art in my early twenties at the Bezalel Art Academy, all I
knew was that art represented an image of reality and beauty. The object represented on the artist's
canvas was the world.
However, while attending the art academy, I came to feel as if I didn't have an understanding of
what was happening in the world of art. I felt that my conception of it was very far from what was
actually going on.
Since then I embarked on a journey of inquiry into the nature of modern art of the 20th century. The
journey began in the Bezalel art school and reached its peak with my Philosophy and Art History
studies at Hebrew University.
Then, I discovered the art of Jasper Johns, an American Jewish artist who worked in the 1960's in
New York.
I saw that Johns used the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 0-9 as objects for his art. Among
other works, he simply made series of numbers and letters on his canvases. I realized that the artist
was not looking at the external world anymore. He was not trying to represent on his canvas any
given object seen in the world, but pointing at the thought dimension as his art object. The "world"
to be discovered now was that of words, thought and language.
Johns helped me understand that modern artists were questioning the very nature of reality to the
point of seeing the word (concept, thought) as the cause, and the external world as the effect.
I realized immediately that the highest expression of such an idea could be found in Jewish thought,
and through the Hebrew language.
"Sefer Yetzira" (The Book of Creation), by Abraham Abiynu speaks directly about the 22 Hebrew
letters and 10 numbers (0 to 9) as the "atoms of creation":
"With thirty-two mystical paths of Wisdom engraved Yah the Lord of Hosts, the God of
Israel, and He created His universe with three sefirot (enumerations): numbers, letters
and sounds.
Ten sefirot(numbers) of nothingness and twenty-two foundation letters…" (Sefer
Yetzira 1-1, tr. Wynn Westcot)
Sefer Yetzira and the Genesis text, among others, shows that the word occurs prior to existence: "
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light"(Genesis 1-3).
In studying and questioning the direction that modern art had taken during the 20th century, I found I
had been directed towards the wisdom found in Jewish ancient texts. This discovery excited me and
touched me deeply, and I was amazed to see how art had become philosophy, and how from the
most rational and abstract analysis of reality, spirituality could be attained.
Since then I use my art as a medium to investigate the connection between modern art, the word
and the Hebrew language and its meaning according to different Jewish concepts.
It is very important for me to emphacize that my inquiring into religious texts is from the point of
view of a secular, intellectual and independent seeker. Therefore, many of my works represent my
own understanding of Ancient texts, as much as my own commentary about them, which sometimes
may differ and even contradict the ortodox and traditional views.
Silvia Licht
Jerusalem - 2006