כי תצא |Ki Teitzei

Ruth Kestenbaum Ben-Dov, USA/Israel

The discussion of the laws of wartime spoke to me immediately when considering my artwork for this collaboration, since, while creating this piece, I had three children serving in the Israel Defense Forces. With pride at their responsibility and leadership, I pray for the wholeness and health of their bodies and souls. I am the mother bird, who needs to fly away from the nest before the eggs are taken. Perhaps I am also the foreign female prisoner-of-war who shaves her head and weeps, as at times I feel imprisoned by the reality of unending conflict, its demand for patriotism and sacrifice, and by my own failure to search for a peaceful alternative.

Professional Background  Ruth Kestenbaum Ben-Dov fuses observational and conceptual painting. She has a BFA degree from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, and is pursuing graduate studies in art history at the University of Haifa. Her work has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and private collections in Israel, the US, and Europe.