Tamar Lev-On

Portfolio: www.tamarlevon.com

I am a mixed media artist and an architect, living, working and teaching in Tel Aviv. I lived and worked in London for five years, where I finished my MA Fine Art and exhibited my work internationally, including in the previous two Venice Biennials.

Homes, Tamar Lev-On

London life, as a foreigner, an artist and a woman, was a confusing condition that called for identity check. It often made me a cultural chameleon that takes over the surrounding – in order to fit in. 

This was the starting point of Brixton Princess from 2010.

This installation includes a manipulated self-portrait and a video piece, showing me as an Afro-Caribbean braid-haired woman. It discusses my place as a constant visitor: in this city, neighbourhood, culture and religion that are not mine. The portrait is presented in a traditional, almost religious composition, while the film portrays a self inflicted act.

In 2011 I simultaneously worked on two correlating projects, both investigating the artist's identity as influenced by her residence over time.

The film HOMES, a five minutes road-movie, investigates the optional bridging between Israel and London. I am importing nostalgia into reality thus bridging between the worlds. The journey is experienced through a 3-dimentional model of the house I grew up in. It arrives in London on a river, takes a train ride, goes by tube and being carried by me until we reach our new home together, passing well known London landmarks as well as personally significant locations.

Self Portrait with Homes is a hand printed and embroidered wall piece. Images of the houses I used to live in form a repetitive hand printed pattern, used as the background of the piece. The shapes created by the pattern dictate a new, embroidered, road map. The red roads evolve into two halves of a face, together depicting a complete self portrait.

*Brixton Princess first exhibited in London VOX Exhibition, Red Gate Gallery, London.
*HOMES first exhibited in In Bridges: Video Art Exhibition, Susan Dalal Centre and Tavi Art Gallery, Tel-Aviv. Produced with the support of The Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts - Cinema Project with the participation of the Leon Recanati Foundation. Supported by the Cultural Administration, Israel Ministry of Culture and Sport, The Israel Film Council.
*Self Portrait with Homes first exhibited in MARKERS 8: Mapping, ArtLife for the World Gallery, Venice.