The sculpture "Immigration / I will take this place with me" (2021, wood and metal, 150 × 220 cm) materializes the profound emotional geography of my displacement and belonging. Constructed as a full-scale replica of an entrance my great-uncle built in the Russian woods some twenty years earlier, this work transforms personal and familial memory into tangible form.
The original dwelling, which our family called "The place of our inner power," held deep significance as both refuge and spiritual anchor. When my great-uncle was diagnosed with cancer, I felt compelled to honor this sacred space through reconstruction. By meticulously recreating its entrance using identical measurements and materials, I perform an act of cultural transmission and continuity. The work becomes a meditation on inheritance—not merely of objects or property, but of meaning, resilience, and connection to place.
Transplanted from the Ural forest to Tel Aviv's urban landscape of concrete, metal, and plastic, my wooden entrance creates a powerful juxtaposition between organic memory and contemporary reality. The sculpture functions as both portal and monument: a threshold between past and present, homeland and new country, collective memory and individual experience.
Through this act of reconstruction, I continue a familial lineage of creation and care, honoring a beloved relative who left no biological heirs. The work suggests that home is not merely geographical but something I carry within—a "place of the soul" that can be materially manifested and symbolically transported across borders, transforming any location into a site of belonging.
