Gili Goldstein

Statuettes

What is my physical definition? Within what happens between the “everything” and the “nothing.” Where do I begin and where do I end. The Stauettes are my hero-character, my icon. They are not fired and didn’t turn to earthenware; they live and change. Spreading smell, sound, heat. The statuettes start as a circular plane and built coil by coil. I listen to the clay, see where it wants to take me. The air inside it is dense and I sculpt over it, against it. It shows me the way. While I sculpted the Statuettes they were placed on a chair, so that my neck was the same height of their necks. Every time I finished sculpting – I hugged them. I moved my hands over their curves with closed eyes, trying, as a blind woman, to identify their faces. I placed my ear on the opening. The water in the clay trapped her voice in her inner space and made the voice float inside like a silent bubble. An absence I have felt before. When I drowned when I was four and was surrounded by blue water. This is the crust that wrapped around me. The dim sound stood between me and the outside, and blurred the boundaries of my body. I created a sterile space that honors the Statuette and offers the viewer an intimate space which blurs the physical boundaries. The viewer takes part in the work. You may touch.