I Am in Heaven
Just Hanging (2)
Just Hanging
They Call Me Kushi
HAGAR SHUR FLETCHER | INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Q. How did your passion for art begin taking shape for you—at home, school, a mentor, and other artists who inspired you or a personal experience that started the fermenting process?A. I started as a news photographer but always wanted to work and make things with my hands. That took me to Paris, where I studied at the École des Arts Appliqués and the École des Arts Déco. There I first began truly to appreciate and understand the sculptures of Picasso.
Q. How would you describe your artwork, in terms of materials or mediums? Has it changed or evolved since formal training and what are your goals for it?
A. My first sculptures were bronze after wax, but as time went by I became more concerned about the environment, and the need to recycle became the main issue of my sculptures.
Q. How important is a personal style to you as an artist or does your work reflect larger social and cultural issues?
A. Maybe it was anger at seeing so much waste and realizing we are buying and consuming endlessly that made me want to stop using new, expensive materials. From that came my first big Installation – I AM IN HEAVEN (picture no. 1), made entirely from recycled trash.
Being aware of society’s ills, I wanted to collaborate with women from deprived conditions. In Israel I chose to work with five refugees from Sudan and together we worked for nine months on that installation. We all benefited. In the future, I will try and look for opportunities to work more with women and children.
My work is not solely about me; I always look around at the things that upset me and move me. I will then try to convert my feelings into art – sometimes it is abstract, sometimes more of a narrative.
Q. Has being a woman affected your work and others’ perception of it? How do you feel about being part of a woman’s art organization?
A. As a woman, a mother, a wife, it is important for me to look at my world from a feminist point of view, trying my best to tackle issues and subjects that matter to women.
The sculpture RED (picture no. 3) is part of a bigger series of works dealing with FGM (female genital mutilation).
