I was raised in Israel in the 1950s. When I was 16, I left high school and moved to Switzerland. I lived there on my own for two years working and becoming fluent in French. What a thrill it was to read Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” and other great masterpieces in French. At 18 I returned to Israel to serve in the military. I worked as a French and English translator. At 22 I came to the States to study art.

 

I received a Master of Arts at UCLA in environmental fiber art. My graduate show consisted of several large room size fiber constructed environments. I use crochet, weaving, wrapping and knotting. Looking back, I marvel at the youthful energy and enthusiasm that empowered me to create such massive constructions.

 

Over the years I moved away from the loom, but never away from fiber. In the late 1970s, i devised A technique of shredding raw sisal and then dyeing it with bright colors. These small brilliant “pieces of color” were then glued on to canvas. It was a “Pointillistic” technique. That allowed me to “paint” with fiber. The canvas became three-dimensional as layers of shredded fiber projected out from the surface. For a period of time this unique technique brought me some measure of financial success. Throughout most of the 1990s I got jobs doing large corporate commissions.

 

In the mid 1980s I began to incorporate handmade paper into my work, then clay and more recently glass and mosaic. I was moving away from a more “purist” approach to fiber. I enjoyed contrasting different textures, the shimmering quality of glass and glazed clay alongside with the more muted surface of fiber. With time I have continued to add new materials to my palette. I am now incorporating fused glass and tempered glass (the material in your car's windshield) to create jewelry and large outdoor installations.