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My first encounter with felt was at the retrospective of Beuys in Zurich in 1993.
I was an art student at that time in Tel Aviv. I arrived at the museum directly from the airport.
Being immersed within a space constructed from rolls of industrial felt, was for me an almost physical experience of a deep and unshakable feeling of peace in contrast to the hectic atmosphere of the airport, which I had left about an hour earlier.
As a result of being exposed to the European art scene, I left my art studies and moved to Switzerland. There, in the course of my studies in art therapy, and completely by chance, I became acquainted with the technique of making felt manually using unspun wool.
Only several years later, after I had returned to Israel, did my interest in felting awaken. Perhaps it was because of the feeling transmitted by the felt of being enveloped in a softness that softened the ever-present exposure to the harshness of life here in Israel.
Anyhow, simply being involved in the process of creating felt began to fascinate me and over the course of several years I was able to master this skill on my own.
My small studio, located in our home in Harduf, was constructed in 2001. The waste-water is recycled through a system of reeds and each step of the process, including painting, is conducted in an environmentally friendly manner.Currently, I am quite engrossed in my ongoing work with this unique material, which imparts within me a sense of coziness, tranquility, and acceptance.
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