Levant: A Visual Essay

The following body of work resulted from a two week stay in Israel/Palestine in January of 2012.  My visit there was a profound experience; from the wonders of the twisting streets of the Old City of Jerusalem to the harsh reality of life for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories,  I came away with a much better grasp of the region, its people and the immensity of its problems. 

The pieces of work in this series are photographs and collages that have been printed on heavy bond paper and mounted on support panels of tung wood. Directly below is the Portals Series.  These images  have been created in shadow boxes to give a sense of depth to the work. Each piece has two or three layers coming forward from the background. Portal #1-#8 are paper collages and #9-#16 incorporate other elements including glass, metal, polymer clay, fabric, cowrie shells, gemstones and candles from a shop near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.