| Interactive Portraits Leora Cheshin has created a series of portraits that move between personal memory and photographic fact. Every aspect has its own truth, and each sheds light on the other. Two frames, linked together, open up like a book. On one side is a childhood snapshot chosen by the subject. Some of them are torn at the edges, some folded over the years, some blurred, but each one is unique, precious and meaningful to its owner. Next to it is a handwritten text which responds to the image. Memories are evoked, analysis of past events, messages conveyed between the adult and the child that was, and the handwriting itself communicates something of the personality. On the adjoining frame are nine close-ups of the subject, recently photographed by Cheshin in a corner of her garden, and placed in rows three by three, with none more prominent than any other. She has chosen to work with friends and colleagues, with whom she shares a basis of mutual trust and respect, and so there is a ring of authenticity to the work. Direct, spontaneous, colourful, intimate, capturing a range of moods and movements, they contrast with the small, grey, historic document on the other side. Cheshin's purpose is to open doors rather than make definite statements. Stories emerge from these multi-faceted portraits which lead to another generation of ideas - about parenting, immigration, the Holocaust. They suggest that perhaps Israeli children have had a very different experience of childhood - those whose parents were survivors, or immigrants who always felt foreign. Poverty and hardship exist everywhere, but in Israel it has its own character among people, previously settled, whose lives have been disrupted. Judging by the many messages from viewers of this work, it stimulates people's memories about their own lives. Fragments of Israel's diverse history come up, and reflections of the times people have lived through. Cheshin interacts with her subjects, allowing them as much space in the project as she allows herself. But the final interactive element is the viewer himself, who reads between the images and texts and creates his own picture. Anne Sassoon, artist and critic, 2001. |