Israeli artist Rinat "Tavalina" Kishony was born in Haifa, Israel in 1966. She graduated from the Israel Institute of Technology in 1992 with a Bachelor of Architecture, and later moved to Tel Aviv, where she worked for several years. During this time she won a competition to re-design the multimedia museum dedicated to the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ben Gurion. After a personal crisis in her 30th year, she began to paint. Rinat abandoned architecture and devoted herself to her art.
At the same time, she embarked on a thrilling journey of personal discovery. She left Israel and set off, traveling the world – from India to Costa Rica to Guatemala to Italy. After ten years abroad, Rinat returned to Israel with her family, where she continues painting and presenting her work, as well as teaching art.
In her own words:
“I love the power of color, and my creative process alternates between different contrasts – spontaneous vs. exact work, cold vs. warm colors, fast vs. slow, opaque vs. transparent, and a constructive vs. destructive process.
Gradually I search for a new balance, a new order.
The paintings are constructed in layers, in a constant movement of exploration on the edge of a cliff.
I try to find in me the consent to get lost, to meet the unknown, to destroy - then appears discovery and surprise, and the finished paintings are vivid and full of energy.”
Firenze
In this exhibit, “Windows Beyond,” we present two series of paintings from Tavalina.
One series is all about the world outside. The Old City of Jerusalem, bustling Tel Aviv with promenades and beaches, Renaissance Florence, warm Tuscany landscapes, palm-lined streets of Haifa, and Israeli highlands with cozy houses.
Kitchen
The other series is about the world inside. Inside our house. Inside ourselves. Inside our thoughts.
We named this exhibit “Windows Beyond” as windows are prominent in her latest work.
Her windows are symbolic and yet so much more introspective and emotional.
As Tavalina says, she wanted to paint a “dialogue” between her inner world and the outer world with a window separating the two.
Little Studio
Like most of us, she spent much more time at home in the last few years, forced by the global pandemic to stay indoors. In her recent work, she paints everyday still lifes.
A kitchen table with utensils, a toaster, and a dish cleaner. A bed with a bedside table and perfumery on it. Back to the kitchen with a coffee maker, a fruit basket, and a stove grate. A glass vase and fresh flower bouquet in it.
Contunuous cycle of same rooms, everyday objects and mundane routine. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, sleep. Rinse and repeat.
Only are emotions are evolving and Tavalina captures exactly them.
Our house can be a place where we can feel lonely, removed from the bustling life outside, alone with our memories, and engulfed by the fear of missing out.
It can also be a house where we withdraw to regain our strength, find comfort, find peace, enjoy simple pleasures and rediscover ourselves.
