PerSlovak
I was born in Jerusalem, Israel to a Persian-born mother and a father of Slovak origin. My mother was the only one in her family who married outside of the Persian-Jewish community and my father was the only one in his family who married a non Ashkenazi jew. For eight years I have photographed all my 55 family members (parents, siblings, uncles, aunts and their children), directing the large format camera to the physical elements which make up the face. In most cases I found myself in my relatives’ faces: The PerSlovak.
Are there any facial features that are Jewish / Israeli? An Ashkenazi mouth? A Sephardic nose? Or maybe mixed eyes? By disassembling and reassembling these ethnic homogeneous family portraits, one can create more than nine million possible faces that do not exist but could have been and cross ethnical hybrid. The interactive exhibition "PerSlovak 2.0" debates historical, cultural and social elements inherent in the term "Melting Pot” while exploring personal history, identity and ethnicity. The exhibition is in two parts: "Physiognomy" which will review and will consist of assembling and disassembling the features and characteristics of the artist’s family; And the “Endless Interior” which will explore their private spaces via panoramic videos.
