Shifi Rathaus
}
My main source of inspiration is my immediate environment. The images in much of my work are of street trees located in cities in which I have lived – New York and Jerusalem. I am drawn to the vulnerability of the trees in urban environments, which I interpret as a metaphor for my own experience of life in the city. My prints depict trees in their entirety and in details, focusing on cuts, textures, and unusual viewpoints. Often the trees keep on growing despite physical injury, manifesting the idea that, albeit loss, “life goes on”.
I work mainly in printmaking, a medium which I find ever so challenging as it inherently has an element of surprise. I especially enjoy working in Intaglio for its tactile qualities, and its focus on drawing as the main means for creating images.
My work deals with personal history, and how it becomes part of the physical being of an individual. How, in a way, one’s history is “mapped” unto one’s own body. My work also relates to my own history: for me, exploring the shapes of street trees is a way of mapping my own experiences.
Résumé
Group Exhibitions:
2019 Poündak, Terminal (part of Outline: Illustration and Poetics in Jerusalem), Curated by Naama Lahav, Jerusalem, Israel
Cinema Hostel, חלון ראווה ירושלמי, Curated by Jerusalem Design Mix, Jerusalem, Israel
2018 Lehman College Fine Art Building, The Same River Twice, Curated by Sarah Rowe and Rachel Sydlowski, Bronx, NY
2015 Jewish Theological Seminary, Volumes VI, Curated by Tobi Kahn, New York, NY
2014 Student Gallery at Lehman College, The Art of the Book, Curated by Katy Fischer, Bronx, NY
The Grady Alexis Gallery, El Taller Latino Americano, Through Women’s Eyes, Curated by Andrea Arroyo, New York, NY
Jewish Theological Seminary, Volumes V, Curated by Tobi Kahn, New York, NY
Living Gallery, NYC Pop Up Art Exhibition, Curated by Katherine Gomez, Brooklyn, NY
Student Gallery at Lehman College, Landscape Painting, Curated by Melissa Brown, Bronx, NY
2013 Jewish Theological Seminary, Volumes IV, Curated by Tobi Kahn, New York, NY
Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Gallery, Women in the Heights – Celebrations, Curated by Andrea Arroyo, New York, NY
2012 Jewish Theological Seminary, Volumes III, Curated by Tobi Kahn, New York, NY
Education:
2012-15 MFA in Studio Art. Concentration: Printmaking; Lehman College, CUNY, New York. Graduated with honors
2007-09 Professional Diploma of Practical Engineering in Print Production with Specialization in Graphic Design; Hadassah College Jerusalem and the National Institute of Technological Training, Israel. Graduated with honors
2003-07 B.A. Studies; Major: Art History; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Graduated Magna Cum Laude
2001-02 Certificate in Restoration of Wooden Artifacts; Museum of Italian Jewish Art, Jerusalem- in Association with Palazzo Spinelli, Firenze
Awards and Honors:
2013 Lehman College Graduate Scholarship
2009 Honors Scholarship for academic excellence and excellent final project, Hadassah College
2005-7 Research Assistant Scholarship: Cataloguing of the Hoffman Postcards Collection; Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2004 Dean’s List, Faculty of Humanities, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Academic Honors Scholarship, Faculty of Humanities, Hebrew University of Jerusalem