The short film Studio Visit with Dvora Morag is available to watch at the top of the page.
Immersed in the intertwined realms of memory and identity, multidisciplinary artist Dvora Morag constructs mesmerizing narratives within her diverse body of work. With mediums ranging from painting to installation art, Morag skillfully incorporates household items into her canon, transforming these everyday objects into potent symbols of those absent.
As a descendant of Holocaust survivors, Morag’s exploration of Holocaust memory extends beyond mere artistic expression, embodying a solemn ethical commitment. She perceives herself as a custodian of these harrowing memories, ensuring their indelible imprint within the shared consciousness of her audience.
The dining table, a significant motif in Morag’s work, originates from her personal experiences. As a child, her family table was a poignant memorial of lost relatives, Holocaust victims whose images were preserved under the glass surface. These images cast an eerie pall over the dining experience, blurring the line between daily ritual and memorial observance, further emphasizing her intimate confrontation with memory and loss. This powerful symbol evolved as Morag navigated her roles as a wife and mother, culminating in a critique of gender norms.
In her Family Package series, Morag extends this exploration. The series repurposes ‘readymades,’ shrouded in burlap, a fabric deeply entrenched in the Israeli-Jewish cultural narrative. This fabric, tied to diverse historical instances from biblical mourning attire to wartime fortifications, acts as a metaphorical skin. It simultaneously uncovers and obscures the inherent nature of the objects, creating a narrative rich in emotions, desires, and shared memory. This interplay transforms the mundane into profound social commentary.
In the video attached, Morag elaborates on her artistic philosophy, sharing her belief in the dining table as the fundamental unit of society. Through her work, Morag expertly bridges the gap between personal experiences and shared cultural memories, fostering an evocative dialogue between her art, her personal history, and her audience.
The featured video Studio Visit with Dvora Morag is part of the web series Yotsrim by Shachaf Dekel. Yotsrim includes five seasons and 73 episodes. The series won the Best Documentary award at the NYC Web Fest in 2019.
