Page 190 - Genius

roteM reSheF

lives and works in Tel Aviv, Israel

SEARCH THE ARTIST ONLINE www.rotemreshef.com

My painting is intuitive, based on introspection
of my emotional inner space and on dialogue
with my surroundings. My work comes from
a constant need to create a colorful and
positive sphere, an almost womb-like world,
a micro-cosmos of a personal experience
projected outside. Color is my first motivation
to paint, the catalyst for refining emotions
and feelings. My experiences as an artist
are reflected foremost in color. Many of
my paintings move on the border between
figurative and abstract, as exemplified in the
series life Forms, in the paintings of Under
the Microscope, and in the series Nature
and Particles.
The images in my paintings invite the
spectator to enter the work, as well as to
go behind the scenes of the artistic process
and discover the personal experience that
motivated the work: to find, observe and
create his or her own personal coding for
understanding the painting. For me, the
working process is almost always an ongoing
journey of discovery and development. In my
work I use various techniques that I have
gradually developed; for example, using
acrylic paint in a manner which simulate
the qualities of watercolors but which have
totally different color intensities, tapping the
brush or working on the canvas horizontally
to prevent the running of paint. Many artists
have been my source of inspiration, and I am
indebted to so many of my teachers, peers
and colleagues.
Among the painters that I love most are Mark
rothko, whose use of color and materials
for creating fantastic worlds that enable the
spectator a possibility of traveling at one's
own will are among the most charming I have
ever seen; Morris louis, upon his large scaled
ravishing paintings in which intense colors
are absorbed and drip partly controlled, on
the canvas; Matisse for his majestic color
scheme, the flattening of images and the
"sounds" that one can hear in his works; and
lea Nickel, an Israeli artist, for her uniquely
 moLeCULar meaL, 2009 ACrylIC ON CANvAS 48x60 IN. /120x150 CM. sweeping color compositions
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