I love paper because I love color
I love paper because I love printing on it

I love paper because I love all those shapeless, illogical forms
that could not be

- Yet they exist

I love the thick rough sculptural paper

I love the soft edges of the paper

I love paper because I love it
thin and fragile

and transparent

I am the paper

Haviva Zemach

Clouds, like the torn paper prints
I’ve made in the past,
relate to my thinking that
the incomplete is the most complete ever possible, and
shapelessness is the most thrilling and interesting “shape.”

Thinking that there are no complete, full shapes in the universe…
only in our invention/creation.

Take the moon, for example….

The ceaseless movement
The [non]shape that ever changes its [non]shape
The exhilarating colors
The ever-changing color

Hovering
Sublime
Dreaming

No words will tell the anxiety I went through when I did the first slumping of the “Woman in Red.”

I had to time the working process to “normal” hours in which I am alert and awake, with all my faculties working, to be able to make logical decisions. I was frightened, scared, worried that I might miss the right moment. That the glass will not liquefy, will be too rigid.

The subject, A Woman in Red, was imposed on me. I was told about a glass sculpture, Aphrodite in Red, completely abstract, made by an East European glass artist.

I am very much aware of my being female. I love the soft roundness which is associated with femininity. I love the red color. I wear many red clothes. I have zillions of tones and hues of red glass. What a wonderful opportunity to play with them.

What kind of a Woman in Red could I create? The simplest was to make something that belongs to woman and make it red. Perhaps I could make something red and stamp on it a woman’s face. A mask? Similar to those in my art books?

Got it!!! But how? I realized that the process of my work will be to create a sheet, and then slump it over a mold of a woman’s face.

I sold a piece in the US, one I made with my teacher Rudi. I loved this piece, but it was made with my teacher beside me. This time I am on my own. I made a plaster silica mold, began composing my red sheet. The process of slumping was craz y long, spreading over many many hours.

The sheet didn’t come out the way I wanted it. I had to redo it to satisfy my idea.

No words will describe the fear I felt when I did the first slumping of “Woman in Red.”