"The installation "Dalet/Beggining" is dealing with immigration and the idea of belonging and home.
Through representations that embody the idea of uprootedness or stability and belonging, various elements are presented as they hang and float in space. The elements in the exhibition express the ongoing tension and struggle to formulate and find a cultural and personal model for consolidating a stable identity and security for those residing in the home." - David Daniel
My installation "Dalet/Beginning" comprises five bodies of work: four handmade sculptures and one zine. It began as research in my sketchbook exploring the meaning of home for me as a person.
The work was born from my lifelong experience of lacking a sense of home since age 12 and my multiple immigrations since my twenties. It was also informed by my reflection on October 7th, 2023, and my lack of understanding about the feeling of safety in the physical place you call home. It emerged as well from the fear of another potential move to another country (which I later declined, choosing to stay in Israel)—what is home? What gives me the feeling I am at home? Why do I need these feelings? Do I? I do.
My research in my sketchbook later transformed into the zine and turned into sculptures, first created as 1:5 scale models, then evolved into full-scale works. They function as totems that transform all the space around them into home by employing the directional language of doors, windows, and architectural elements. Through these sculptural interventions, the installation questions and redefines the boundaries between physical space and emotional belonging, suggesting that home can be constructed through ritual objects that carry the memory and intention of shelter.
The Zine is written on 4 languages - Russian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, and German - the languages f the counties I lived in.
The sculptures's sizes, as well, were taken from the same countries - by size of soviet windows, European doors, Israeli 1,5 mattress and blinds.
