Tali Navon
Forward, 2016
Installation, video, painting, and clay
Courtesy of the artist
Tali Navon's exhibition space comprises a two-piece video work and two series of paintings.
The video installation contains a double-channel video work and clay figurines, seemingly deep in thought or inner focus leading to a meditative sense of calm. The act of self-contemplation is discussed in the thought of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. In his view, the encounter between the infant and his or her mirror image takes place when the child recognizes himself in the mirror. This engenders a sense of alienation between the infant, who experiences himself internally as a fragmented and limited being, and the whole image appearing outside in the mirror. Lacan addresses this experience from the point of view of the subject, with reference to the reflexive gaze that is aware of itself. In Navon's sculptures, the contemplative figures are faceless, unable to maintain the return gaze. Seemingly, the artist seeks to close the gap between the observer and the image, mending the disruption between inside and outside.
In the painting series "Work Apron" Navon continues to address the theme of contemplation. The feminine figures seem to be gazing into an imaginary world or landscape, examining what they see. Faceless, their body becomes a kind of place, a surface that absorbs the traces of time. The aprons appearing in the series shift between two contradictory worlds – that of the traditional feminine apron, associated with cooking, and that of the work apron, representing liberation from the traditional burdens of womanhood. The work apron's reincarnation is not intended to conceal, but to resolve the ongoing struggle between the bound, feminine dimension and the liberated dimension.
Navon says that her work addresses feminine and maternal issues through definitions of nature and culture. The painting series "Spinea" refers to an artificial lake on a private estate near Venice. The wealth and power expressed in the lake's creation inspire awe, says the artist. "In a place where nature is at the height of beauty," she says, "man still feels the desire for more, for achieving perfection." In this series, Navon tries to create "artificial nature" by bringing nature into the studio. Her nature paintings undergo a process of fragmentation and abstraction. She combines a drawing process with the mounting of a gold-like material, reminiscent of Byzantine art and even the early Renaissance. The gold material signifies spheres of existence beyond the tangible. Its juxtaposition with floral motifs evokes the classical symbolism of the Gates of Heaven.
Navon's works are comprised of multiple layers and strata, which seem to fuse reality and imagination, exploring a perceptual process in the mind and in the world. These works are based on a world view according to which inner contemplation, listening, and the abandonment of egoism for its own sake are able to bring humanity to a better, more decent place.
Tali Navon was born in Tel Aviv, 1964; lives and works in Tel Aviv