Artist's statement

Passion and emotion are the forces that motivate me – the starting point of my creative journey. Only later in the process, I turn to examine my work through a rational, ideological, and aesthetic lens. My work materials are diverse, ranging from oils, watercolor, pastels, and industrial paint to various print and etching techniques.

The central images in my work are self-portraits, women’s clothing, images of women in violent situations, and portraits. While this lexicon of themes is recurring and ongoing, over the years it was given different treatments. The work begins with a word or sentence that prey on my mind for some time. These may originate in a book, film, or a conversation. Usually the sentence resonates an unresolved matter inside me, leading me to look within, where it taps into images associated with it.

My linocut works portray bound women, sex toys, stiletto shoes, and corsets, scenes from chauvinistic adverts and pole dancers in action. The technique of incising with sharp knives using force, which involves cuts and bruises in the material as well as in my body, corresponds with the content. The outcome is blunt, unequivocal, with no shades of grey, everything is black or white.

My etchings and monotypes portray articles of clothing that are not my own: dresses that I have desired in the past, shoes that I have never worn. All constitute a self-portrait of sorts, where I let go of a fantasy and things that will never be mine. I take sensual and visceral pleasure in the possibilities offered by the technique, fumbling through the precarious balance between planning technical-chemical procedures to spontaneity and the unpredictable elements in the work process.

Paintings and drawings are where I work directly on the support, either paper or canvas, in contrast to the print’s copper or linoleum plate, which serve as a mediating element to the end result on paper. Some of the themes are similar to those portrayed in my etchings and monotypes, and another section is comprised of portrait paintings, many of which are self-portraits. Each self-portrait sets in motion a change in me. Such change always demands attention and new exploration, over and over again. Even when I paint other subjects, the self-portrait is still present. Coincidence will determine whether it will manifest itself a distinct way or take another form.    

Hagit Shahal

חגית שחל