My connection with Maskit started long before I came to live in Israel. In the many trips I took before settling in Israel, I always made a point of visiting the beautiful Maskit stores to admire their workmanship and unique designs. Of course I was always tempted and collected many pieces for me or my family back home. However, the highlight was always the ecstasy I felt when I entered their carpets and wall hangings department.
So, it is understandable that I was thrilled when, about 35 years ago, Ms. Neora Warshavsky, manager of Maskit’s weaving department, approached me with the proposal of executing the weaving of a design of mine.
And that’s how my tapestry WAR AND PEACE was born. Though our techniques, my Gobelin’s and their’s Persian rug, were quite different, nevertheless the result was well crafted and beautiful. I visited the Maskit factory in Um Al Fahem where the weaving was carried out. First of all, I was impressed with the wonderful skillful work of the Druse women. Then, I had the privilege of being asked to teach them my own technique for tapestries.
During my visit to the Maskit factory I also had the chance to admire the beautiful upholstery they were working on for covering the walls of the business man Shaul Eisenberg’s private jet– Fantastic!
The WAR AND PEACE tapestry which was produced in a limited series of Artist’s Proofs, was exhibited abroad and in Israel.
WAR AND PEACE
“On the day the LORD gave the Amonites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the Valley of Ayalon.
Joshua 10:12
So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,…”
Joshua 10:13
Title: War and Peace
Size: 1.38 m X 1.84m
Special edition A/P
In the background, a semi-circle symbolizes both the sun and the moon, as if frozen into space.
From that massive shape the dramatic episode of the Book of Joshua is developed using the fluid figures and characters as though in a frantic dance of war and peace.