Gil Shachar

Wax, color, paintbrushes, wood, 39 x 57 x 45 cm., 2020

Shachar cast my head in wax in 2015. Creating my head mold was a long and exhausting process, especially during the part I had to keep my eyes shut, and ears sealed. Yet, I was filled with great excitement, knowing that an artist was creating a cast in my own image. An act interlinked to sculpture tradition, across cultures and societies and through the ages.

Shachar usually casts people from his immediate surroundings, and he then meticulously adds details with a brush and paint. The cast and paint merge into one, capturing a fleeting moment. In all of his sculptures, the figures' eyes are shut. By doing so, the artist maintains a distance between the figure and its viewer - the viewer is not permitted to look into the figure's soul, intensifying the figure's sense of vitality.

Wax, the material from which the sculpture is made of, does not guarantee its eternity. However, the very act of my portrait casting connected me to a magnificent tradition, and brought me hope for a future that will carry better news.