Liora Kaplan creates sculptural works and environments, which she sees as “landscapes of silence”, conveying a simultaneous sense of embarking on a journey to an ancient temple and to an unknown future. Her work materialises the desire of imbuing objects with personal meaning and underlines the role of time and space as key conditions for such a process to happen.
In her last two institutional exhibitions Kaplan’s eclectic totems explore how certain materials, shapes and textures are drawn to each other, and how to reveal an inner movement and their yearning to connect. Through the juxtaposition of found objects, fabricated elements, various materials and techniques, she honours the history of craft and constructs conceptual shrines that preserve the legacy of the artisans who came before her.
At the heart of her practice lies a beating understanding that cultures embed themselves into matter. After years of delving into the world of local material culture, Kaplan has created an archive from her extensive mid-century israeli ceramic collection. Separating each object’s visual components into categories of shape, silhouette and pattern, elevating them into a visual “Alphabet”. She uses this vocabulary as a new way to conceive monolithic sculptures that are rooted in history and yet carry a sense of formal freedom .
Kaplan was a healer, a meditation guide, and an NLP practitioner for many years. At the core of Kaplan’s spiritual and studio practice, there is a gentle tuning of intention, a profound listening to the essence of connection. Sound acts as a conductor at their intersection, and becomes a significant part of Kaplan’s environments. In one exhibition there was a gong bath that invited viewers to partake in a ceremonial meditation alongside her work. In a second exhibition, she collaborated with the musician Ohad Elkobi on a soundpiece, created from recordings of the ceramic vessels in her studio. Her artistic process became a type of ritual where the objects act as muses in her own holistic world that she now ‘resides’ in.
bio
Liora Kaplan (*1974, Herzliya; lives and works in Tel Aviv-Yafo) studied at Avni Institute of Art and Design in Tel Aviv and at the Faculty of Arts – Hamidrasha at Beit Berl College.
Her work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the KMAC Museum, Kentucky, USA (2023), CCA Tel Aviv Yafo (2022), Rozin Center Tel Aviv (2017) and Ferrate Gallery, Tel Aviv (2013). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Sotheby’s, New York, USA (2021), Ramat Hasharon Gallery (2020), Beit Ha’ir, Tel Aviv (2020), CCA Tel Aviv Yafo (2020), Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv (2019), Red House Gallery, Tel Aviv (2017), Hanut Gallery, Tel Aviv (2017), Beit Mairov Municipal Arts Center, Holon (2013 and 2016), the Farm Gallery, Holon (2015), Port Gallery, Jaffa (2015), Tiroche Auction House, Herzliya (2014), Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv (2014), Lilienblum 23, Tel Aviv (2014), Salon 96, Tel Aviv (2014), SCOPE Art Fair, Miami (2013), See.me Gallery, New York (2013), Vitrina, Tel Aviv (2013), Florentine 45 Gallery, Tel Aviv (2012), @Gallery, New York (2011), ST-ART Residence, Jaffa (2011), Kishon Gallery, Tel Aviv (2011), NARS Gallery, New York (2010), Mika Art Gallery, Tel Aviv (2010), LOFT Barcelona (2010), Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow (2010), Art Whino, Washington D.C. (2008), among others.
Her work is also in the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and in private collections in Israel and the United States.
She was an artist-in-residence at START.
Her work has been featured in magazines such as Haaretz, La Repubblica, Time Out, Portfolio and Blackbook.