Lea_Art List
0063 - Bronze Figure Hanging
0064 - Holy Cow
0061 - Decay of the Retina
It is stated in Genesis:
“Dust you are to dust you shall return’’.
Let us try a different approach:
You have left a world of storms and reached the land of tranquility and peace — a place where there are no hatred, jealousy nor wars.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0060 - Sprawled in Collage
Rhapsody in white and brown.
Sometimes a color is used to denote a conception and its opposite at one and the same time. White, for example, symbolizes youth and festivity — hence the white dress of the bride — but also the color of a shroud, the dress of the dead. In the earthy colors we tend to feel the warm and soft touch of the human hand.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0059 - Filaments
There are forms that suggest order and there are forms that suggest disorder, and there are those who spring out of havoc and yet possess the elements of an order that governs nature.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0058 - Degenerated Eye
There are soft things and there are things that look soft — and there are those who are soft-spoken.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0057 - Concealed
In the book of Zohar (a religious work with mystical-metaphysical references) it is said that in a sense it was not God who expelled Adam and Eve from Paradise, but it was rather man who expelled God from his heart.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0056 - Retinal Breach
I wish I were a bird crossing over borders, over obstacles, beyond social frames, beyond liabilities that never end.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0055 - Rokach House
In the struggle for survival even a rag can offer a glimmer of hope.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0054 - City Commute
I wonder how Atlas felt when he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. I prefer to lie on my back holding my feet upwards and to amuse myself by lifting a piece of cloth.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0053 - Crowded Towers
The sheet knows best what we go through in our lifetime.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0052 - Agitated Sea
Noah's Ark represents the struggle for survival in a world of disasters.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0051 - Dense Towers
*A Few Quotes from Our Sages on the Subject of Clothing: *
"What is the basis for the suggestion [that good] clothes are liked by all? The Talmud says, 'Silverware and g[goldware and clothes' — the last (mentioned) is always the most [liked].''
Mekhilta de Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Parashat Bo 35
"Clothes you ought to buy on the expensive side; food, for no more than its worth.''
Talmud, Baba Metsi'a 52
"Man should consume food and drink at an expense below his means, but he should always wear his best clothes.''
Talmud, Hullin 84
"Whoever takes little heed of his clothes ends up losing the capacity to enjoy them.''
Talmud, Berachot 62
"He who possesses only one garment, his life is not worth living.''
Talmud, Beitza 32
"According to his clothes is a guest received, but according to his wit is he escorted out.''
Mishlai Yehoshua, "Khidot Menei Kedem" (Fables of Joshua, "Ancient Riddles")
"You are known by your name in your own town, but by your clothes in a foreign town.''
Ibid
"The glory of God is man, and the glory of man his clothes.''
Ibid
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1983
0050 - Urban Sea
The sheet of the newly married —
an embodiment of the devilish need in human society to tread on individual privacy.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0049 - Vibrant Bloom
I pinched the clay — a fold was formed.
I pinched again and another fold was born.
I pinched again. That is how the piece of cloth was born.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0048 - The Last Touch
The curtain rises and goes down. The setting changes.
In every chapter of our life, we change.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0047 - Streams of Cars
A tent is actually a blanket that has been raised above our heads.
The house is a tent that grew thicker.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0046 - Flower and Stamens
It is the feminine in me that senses one form clinging to another— I love the contact between close forms.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0040 - Legs Gathered
*On the Concave and the Convex*
Two basic forms, the concave and the convex, are actually the reverse of each other. The convex is our belly, which swells and fills itself with its creation. The concave is our belly which has disgorged its fruit throughout the land. The convex is the top of the mountain which we ascend for the view. The concave is the foot of the mountain from which rivers carry soil and water to make crops grow.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0039 - The Acrobat
The snake forms shapes which are at once concave and convex, and thus his twistings are treacherous. We begin our existence in the convexity of the womb, the best defended place we will ever know. We continue to long for the security of the convex all our lives — the house, the mysterious cave, the skies above us, the posture of bending our bodies in a circle and holding our legs within our arms. These are all signs of desire for the protective shell which can envelop and defend us from a hostile world.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0045 - Wading Women
Paris, the apple, and the three Graces.
A competition that brought about a terrible war.
I wonder whether the mythological conception regards female jealousy as the source of evil?
Or was the calamity that befell Troy a result of male's preference for beauty.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0044 - Vibrant Women
The fold seems to hide something.
Sometimes there is nothing within — nothing more than air.
This is perhaps the secret of mystery — it seems to exist but actually there is nothing there.
It is less surprising that I found the human being behind the fold, since he stays always within me.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0032 - Hanging Bronze
Today's gladiators run, swim, play music or sing. Yet they run not for the pleasure of running, but for the fraction of the second; they swim for an achievement measured with the blinking of an eye; they play the piano not to elevate their soul but to maneuver for attention. The words of an Israeli weight-lifting champion still resound in my ears. Interviewed after failing to qualify for the Olympics, this robust man was reduced to tears as he told of his years of dedicated practice and denial of so much of the pleasures of life —all wiped out in one hour.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0029 - Fetal Bronze
The convex in us wishes to preserve, to defend, to accumulate; the concave in us is open to accept, to absorb, to renew, to gather whatever comes along. When our absorptive powers have been saturated, the concave curls up and transforms itself into a convex form, while the convex tries to open up, empty its contents and turn concave again. A constant tension is thus created between the convex and the concave: one tries to swallow, the other tries to reject. Yet the first, which by nature is open, will aspire to close up, and the latter, which by nature is closed, will strive to open and absorb the outside. And now try to make order in a world where even its basic forms struggle to preserve their identities even while trying at the same time to assert their right to change.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0027 - Bronze Dress
*I Am a Housewife*
My world is small. It is made up of unpretentious people and matters of no great consequence. Matters that do not make history.
I don’t tame lions or gallop on the backs of horses. At most I bump into a worm gnawing a fruit brought home from the market or watch a moth seeking rest for its tired wings.
I exert authority on no one and take no part in the great inspiring deeds and exciting events that become topics of conversation.
I have a kitchen, pots in the sink, laundry that needs washing, and dust clinging to the book shelves. I have a refrigerator that I have to fill with purchases from the grocery, again and again. And I also have to constantly empty my ever-stuffed garbage bin.
Yet my small world is rich and full. Housekeeping means managing a budget, keeping account of income and expenditures, and wisely allocating the balance. Housekeeping means an aesthetic concern for the appearance of every corner, placing accessories and works of art in a tasteful combination which also excites the imagination. Housekeeping requires knowing how to repair breakdowns in the sewage and electrical systems. Housekeeping includes managing a miniature restaurant in order to supply delicacies to the family. Housekeeping also includes running a small tailoring workshop for the proper maintenance of its members’ clothing. Finally, housekeeping entails the practical application of psychology and education toward raising children healthy in body and soul.
Housekeeping is a paean of love between man and his home, between parents and children, a love that does not deteriorate through friction or habit.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1983
0026 - Raised Legs
*The Spectator and his Participation in a Work of Art*
Looking at a work of art is not merely an action of the eyes. The eyes are merely the instrument by which the heart and the soul may be reached, where deposits of sensations and associations are stored. All of these differ from one person to another, depending on his character, disposition, experience and way of life. Thus when the forms and colors of a work of art are perceived by the fibers and nerves of the viewer, his individual storehouse of memories and sensations will be stimulated, giving each person his own personal response to the work of art. Tears and laughter can dwell together. A man slips in the street — one person may be amused and another alarmed. In the same way, people can have opposing reactions to a work of art.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0025 - Hands Behind
Or consider the colors black and white. Some see in black an expression of solemnity or formality, while others see in it sorrow and mourning. Some see white as the symbol of purity and innocence, while some are reminded of shrouds. Some may see black and white as symbols of opposing elements; some may be reminded of the struggle between races. For these reasons, artists are often reluctant to provide "explanations" of their art. They feel that by doing so they may sever the link which they expect to develop between the work of art and the individual responses of the viewer.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0024 - Shelf Leaning
Wouldn't our eyes rejoice at a tree coming out of the flat ground, at a mountain unfolding in space?
Similarly, wrinkles contain a richness of form and content. Wrinkles conceal a life-story, while tight smooth skin is like a blank page. Wrinkles form the expression of a person and reflect his personality. There are wrinkles at the corners of his mouth, at the corners of his eyes, between his brows and along his cheeks. Some are thin and delicate; others are deep and stern. All are formed by and reflect his character. Youth is merely the product of genes, a set of circumstances over which the individual has no control. Wrinkles however are of a man's own doing. They may be a product of his anger and frustration, or conversely made by a constant and loving smile. I love wrinkles that fold beautifully, and the lined faces of the aged which show softness, pleasantness, and warmth of character.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0022 - Crossed Seating
*On Beauty and Ugliness*
We are told that youth is beautiful and that old age is ugly. Yet when I try to translate youth into the language of forms, I am forced to restrict myself to the simple, the smooth and the shallow: the features of the face and the figure are round and tight — no protrusions, no moles, no wrinkles. All is reduced to simple functional forms, common to all people.
On the other hand, the swollen belly is a form far richer than the flat. The swollen belly contains mysteries; it is the cradle of new life. The folds of the stomach themselves suggest creative forces. If we see a flat stretch of land, don't our eyes seek for some curve to break the monotony?
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0021 - Flatbed Truck
Clay is one of the oldest materials to have been used by man for artistic creativity. At the same time, it is flexible enough to allow for almost any modern conception. I have chosen it as tool to express myself, in an environment that is both ancient and new.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0018 - Curled Figure
The masses support the idea of spreading knowledge for the good of all, but failing this they languish in a state of mental numbness. They purport to create communication between people, but achieve only the destruction of the individual and his dissolution into the crowd.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0017 - White Tomb II
There are tense forms and there are forms that are relaxed. Yet I always look for the ashes that burn under the peaceful façade.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0015 - White Tomb I
Forms create symbols and symbols are in search of forms.
Symbols that stand for the male and the female are obviously different from each other, yet they are capable of integrating in an ensemble.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0006 - Reclining Girl on her Back
*On Competitions*
When I watch a competition on television, I feel as though I'm being transported back to the Roman arena where gladiators fought wild animals to the death and the crowd applauded and cheered.In today's competitive events we don't see the blood, but it is flowing nonetheless as internal hemorrhages in the trembling bodies of the losers. Their faces turn pale, their souls writhe — and the crowd cheers on.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0005 - Grand Bloom
Everyone studies the tense faces of competitors in international harp or piano contests. The camera focuses on their pressed lips. One can almost hear their hearts throbbing with the sound of their music. And we relish the sight of their bowed heads and efforts to smile as the interviewer interrogates them on why they failed to win. So long as there is a crowd thirsty for such bloodshed, there will be competitions. However, competitions are designed for equals, for people who aspire to identical achievements. They do not apply to creative people who struggle with their own talents and not against the capacities of others; who seek self-fulfillment through individual creativity, not through testing themselves against someone else's achievement. These are the people who arrive at real achievements — and without bloodshed.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0004 - Two Bronze Figures
A woman perhaps may not act out in any demonstrable way; she may choose not to pursue success or make an impact on society; but she will remain the creative power that forms life out of her womb, and she will continue to shape the character of her offspring.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0003 Large Women In Gray
On Posture and Position
In sense something of significance in the way a women is seated. She sits in a way to relieve the great tiredness that arises from her endless labors. I also sense significance in the way a women lies resting, relaxing from the burdens of her duties to others, to the family to which she dedicates all of her physical and spiritual strength. The reclining women lies stripped and emptied and drained.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0002 - Dotted Skirt
When wisdom was bestowed upon man, what was the first thing he did? He hurried to dress up. And ever since that day we are in love with our clothes.
We like them not only because they keep our bodies warm. We like them because they help us conceal our defects, while at the present our personal identities. And above all they help us indulge in dreams, allowing us to assume new identities and giving freedom to suppressed desires.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0001 - Bottoms Under Sheet
We are not familiar with our own back since our eyes cannot see it.
As for the backs of others - there are eyes there to conduct a dialogue with ours.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0011 - Legs Stretched Forward
*I'm Not Alone in the World*
I happened to be in Kenya on the eve of that country's independence. Masses of people had come together to demonstrate, to cheer, to show solidarity. Everyone looked exceedingly strange, wearing a common face, without individual identity.
That's how I discovered it — that the masses populating the continents and filling the world to the brim actually rule their leaders. Leaders lose their own identities and reflect only the masses who put them in power. The masses in turn move like a giant mechanical monster, powerless to control its own fate, wearing its system of laws like a yoke around its neck.
Lea Majaro-Mintz
0010 - Industrial Bloom
The difference between good order and its demise hangs only on the strength of the chord.
How many times over can we tie together the torn pieces?
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0009 Terracotta Tie
*The Intimate Art*
Some works of art are made great by their size, and their value is judged by the sense of power they emanate. Works which emphasize the struggle between volumes and forms, such as temples, palaces, and monuments are examples of this type. The more they succeed in astonishing, the more they leave the spectator feeling small and overwhelmed. These creations celebrate the decorative, “non-personal’’ artistic outlook and nourish the eye alone by means of the aesthetic norms of the period.
This is an art that requires efficiency and technical sophistication. It is an art that also requires large resources of wealth and therefore must turn to the establishment for support. But like all endeavors controlled by the state, such art imposes a style and way of expression on the individual. He is not allowed to choose.
On the other hand, there exists an art which offers only modest statements about everyday uncertainties in a complex system of life. In this art the individual as creator struggles with problems of identity and image, of man and his surroundings, working his way to a tentative resolution from his own inner depths. Then, by a miraculous coincidence, his art touches the hearts of others, and they find affinity in its expression. This is the intimate art, dedicated to sensuous, emotional, and intellectual stimulation with no profit and with no eagerness to impress.
Intimate art cannot be forced on the spectator. It is presented to him for his own free choice.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1983
0008 - Dual Transporter
Were I not taught that the baby emerges from the womb, I would have chosen to bring him out of a terra-cotta pot — for we like to knead and mold both.
Our forefathers were reburied in vessels of clay. It seems that they had perceived the existence of an intimate connection between man and clay that originates from earth.
Biologists have recently brought up a new theory, suggesting that clay contains the elements from which the first cell of life may have originated.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1988
0007 - Terracotta Transporter
*Art and Technology*
I am often amazed by the accomplishments of technology. Its range of performance is stunning. It cuts, blends, stimulates, heals, calculates all in a wink of an eye, with an efficiency and dexterity that the human hand cannot match.
And yet, within the sophisticated and proficient systems of technology one important element in our lives may be missing, the touch of the sensuous world. This is a world of subtle sensitivities evoked by natural materials and forms created by the vitality of the human hand, sensitivities evolved from within the subconscious and through the artist struggle to surmount doubts and insecurities.
Hence my attachment to clay for my artistic expression. I want a material that originates in the earth, that can be shaped by the direct touch of the hand, using no instruments, accessories, molds, or other intervening tools.
I remain devoted to a material that keeps the imprint of the fingers, that perpetuates the outward flow of sensitivities from harmonies within.
Lea Majaro-Mintz, 1983