Moshe Gershuni

Etching, aquatint and photoetching 30X40 cm.,1991

In a mixed-technique print, Gershuni conjures the image of himself as a child. It is a photo of a boy smiling to the camera with a drawing of a floating wreath above his head, turning him into an angel.
For a moment, this image reminds me of the floral crown a child would wear at his birthday party, but this work is not concerned with birthday celebrations. If the past lies in the photograph, the wreath suggests the future.
The image holds both the notion of an innocent childhood and an unknown future: the boy, as a young man, might return from the battle as a hero with a laurel wreath, or perhaps that wreath would be laid on his grave.