Bella
Hvatskin

Bella Havatskin - Artist Name: Bella HvatskinD.O.B: 26/02/1978Date of Aliyah: 09/01/1997Address: Israel, Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan, 12125P.O. Box 268Mobile: 050 -2606036Email: bellahvatskin@gmail.com Artist:Owner and teacher at “Drawing from the Stomach” studio.Living and creating art at Kibuttz Lehavot Habashan, in the Upper Galilee.Married, with 3 children.Education and Training:1997 – 2000: Haifa University.  Course in Art Creation Course in Theater Stage Design 1995 – 1996: Moscow University Course in Psychology1984 – 1995: High School Education (Moscow), Full Diploma1991 – 1993: "1905" Moscow Art College.1983 – 1990: Private painting and drawing lessons with leading teachers Exhibitions:2008: Museum Hutzot Yaffo. Group Exhibition2009: The Mirror Theater, Kiriat Shmona: Individual exhibition “Body, Form and Color”. 2010: The Jaffa Knight Tower Gallery. “Light”. Group Exhibition2012: The Advocate Towers Gallery, Tel Aviv. Group Exhibition2013: Lake Ra’anana Gallery. Exhibition “Winter Salon” Group Exhibition2014: Tel Hai Gallery: Exhibition “Galilee Winds”. Curator2015: Festival "Between the vineyards". Individual exhibition 2016: Art Galil 1 Group Exhibition2017: Art Galil 2 Curator2018: Art Galil 3 Group Exhibition2018: Bashan Gallery. Solo exhibition I am in a constant search.Until ten years ago I used an imprinting technique that combines the object and the canvas. The idea to imprint myself on canvas derived from my wish to eliminate the criticism I had on the classic technique of painting. I wished to eliminate the hand that holds the paintbrush and eliminate years of learning "how to paint" based on rigid and non-compromising Russian technique.I love the imprinting technique because it has a great ability to catch movement on canvas. However, as time passed, I started broadening my imprinting techniques by imprinting of wet paint and producing a 'negative' image on canvas: I started with a realistic image, then layered it with colors while paying attention to the light and shade patterns. When the negative was ready, I pressed it (still wet) on the background painting I have prepared in advance. Five years later I started studying the Woman's Body as an entity that is constantly put under inspection, supervision and policing, and therefore is under a self-hate condition as well. My nude pictures were the inspiration for my work on the subject in which the woman's body is compared to dough in the hands of a (male) baker… the hands of a man objectifying the woman's body and changing its boundaries according to the gender rules. Two years ago I started to create a series of illustrations from the pages of an old children’s book by Gianni Rodari, “From Where? Why? What For?”. Rodari, an Italian author of children’s books, whose works glorified communism, and were part of the brainwashing that every child in Soviet Russia underwent. Pages torn from Rodari’s book formed the basis for my illustrations. I wrote and illustrated humorous, autobiographical stories. In the stories, I go back to my childhood in Moscow and document my life in Israel as an immigrant who is still searching for her identity. Now I'm 40 years old. I try to let go of my obsessive preoccupation with pain, the pain out of which I have created since first touching a paintbrush. Today I want to set myself free, to laugh at the absurdity of life, at judgment, at self-importance, at everything that is acceptable, and what is taboo in our world. I am totally free to choose whatever materials come into my mind - from children's pens, to makeup pencils, gilded pages, acrylic paints, water, oil paint or cuttings of illustrations from art books. Sincerely,Bella.