The work on the series "Cypresses" started a few years ago during a period of trips to Jerusalem, when the presence of the view of the Har Hamenuhot Cemetery became for the artist a daily living experience. The huge stone walls of the cemetery on the hill, with the trees and the concrete intermingling with the cypress trees, became for her a thrilling and powerful picture. It was there for the first time that she became aware that the cypress is a tree that can connect to a physical place of loss and separation. In the series of works in the exhibition one sees a group of cypresses present in the background, relating to and molding the meaning and the presence of the cypress standing in the foreground, alone.
For someone born and raised on a kibbutz, the yearning for a feeling of belonging is inseparable from a definition of an identity experienced through the collective identity of the kibbutz or the family, but at the same time it strengthens the will to separate, it raises the possibility of experiencing oneself as a full identity and a presence of one's own.
Geula Maruk-Cahen creates and has been fascinated for many years with the magic of the technique and with the mystery of the process of printing. A large part of the works in the exhibition were made using the technique of working with "live acid" that scorches the metal and produces a pictorial effect.
With large and spontaneous movements that trap an instant of control and of loss of control,the plate begins to show the image of an inward scenery. A homely and distant picture of figures of cypresses that was trapped in the memory. The cypress stands alone, in the foreground of the picture, belonging and being present in a new way.
Meirav S. Ben-Alon, October 2007
The etchings created by Geula, resemble a poem which recounts the tale of a place. The words, when painted, express in a lyrical manner the impressions of the soul of nature itself, of its vegetation, the ambiance and the feeling which embraces those emerged in the view.
In several of her works Geula paints the cypresses standing alone on both sides of a path which leads away into curves in the distance, Geula seems to invite us to follow it, to pass through between the tree trunks and be drowned out into the horizon. At times the treetops of "her cypresses" lean towards one another, crowding in together, merged by free and expressionistic brush strokes.
An innocent view of a sunset (burgundy, ochre, orange), continues with a dusty road painted in an almost transparent shade leading towards the horizon, towards purple hills with pale skies in the background. The cypresses are given precise cone shapes, painted in cold tones; they are depicted as dark green forms surrounded by deep darkness, symbols of mourning and memories of the dead, closing in among themselves, silent and lonely.
Geula's cypresses are tall and upright, seeking to convey a sense of strength even if not always depicted fully with the base of their trunks or their tops. The choice to portray them from a close distance may imply that they are bigger than what the eye is able to apprehend. Drawing near to the subject leads to creating greater intimacy and better acquaintance.
The local view created by Geula changes as the years progress into a mythical Israeli landscape, of a painter born and raised in Israel, forming his images from a collective childhood memory of a certain generation. No doubt the tall, up right and silent cypresses embody the myth of the "sabra", the silent and melancholy warrior and the Israeli mythological reality in general.
Curator – Daniel Kahana- Levinsson. October 2007, "Office" space Tel Aviv artists worshops
Mashabe Sadeh (2005), Dor beach (2010), Zin Wady (2011)
Since 2005 I have taken part in several Art workshops in Nature organized by "Israel Designer Craftsmen's Association"
The workshops were of three days duration and were guided by environmental artists from abroad.
The encounter with nature inspired a creative process using materials which were found in the various surroundings and was proved to be enjoyable as well.
Photo Album of the Art in Nature workshop in Dor beach 2010
"The following day I discovered a particularly slotted strip of sand stone, the slots seemed like waves or furrows split by a deep crack. I gathered many seashells with which I filled the cracks."
"The sea waves shattered around me, wind was blowing and I couldn't stop. I wasn't telling any story nor touching any pain. I simply sat and observed and was filled with a pleasant sensation."