ARTIST’S STATEMENT The motif that runs through these paintings is that of the relationship of landscapes to my essence. The meaningful relationships of color, form and structure as well as the subjects of the paintings bring to my consciousness those memories of beauty and pain, which touch my soul. The connection between Earth, the trees and grass and rock that obtain their nourishment from her on the one hand, and the relationship between Woman/Man and Earth, on the other hand is one that I have dealt with over the years in my works. The symbolic closeness between the two has represented a recurring theme. The representation of a creative force resultant from the union of the two, as well as the unfortunate destructive force that often results, continues to this day. Shoshana Ernst September 1, 2006
The Landscape of the Soul Shosh Ernst’s vivid, fresh series of paintings presents open-wide, sensual and expressive landscapes. The loveliness of the drawings allows the viewer to experience the beauty of physical sights and sites captured by the eye of the artist, and in so doing witness the beauty of the landscape of her soul. Outer space joins inner space and the eye follows the artist brush and moves naturally from the beauty of the view to the beauty and the mystery of its recollection, stamped in color and fabric. The paintings showing Israeli scenes - reveal the artist’s power in rendering effortlessly the desired reconciliation of the material and spiritual worlds. The light which glimmers over the sky and grows brighter and brighter as it reaches the fine line of the horizon, encourages the observer to go one step further and cross the realm of the senses. When the scene includes a figure (and it rarely does) the human body seems to be engraved in natural materials like stones and trees making wild nature look as if it, too, is endowed with human inspiration. The talent that makes the cello player merge with his musical instrument is expounded with the same grace in the illustrations of open fields, making one realize it is the heavenly music of nature he is attuned. The joyful melody of nature is reflected through bright, gay colors, dominated by crimsons, deep and light blues and cool greens and dotted with spring-like touch of yellows and pinks. In her powerful brush movement, Shosh Ernst crystallizes the elemental forces of nature: a flash of fire, a rush of wind, a reflection of the restlessness of water and the ever- comforting embrace of earth. Dr. Amira Eran