Negative Portrait (2002)

Negative print of self-portrait wearing makeup. The dark parts of the head - hair, beard, shadows and apertures, have been covered in makeup with tonal modifications into lighter shades, whereas the light parts, which stand out in the shape of the face, cheeks, lips, eyelids, have also been made darker using tonal modifications. Development of the photograph's negative seemingly brought the image back to the original tonality of the protagonist's face. The work deals with identity and authenticity, and displays the effort involved in authentic representation as an allegory. The context for the work was an invitation to participate in the first show dealing with Mizrahi (of middle-eastern extraction) art in Israel, and it revolved around identity in social and political context. The work was acquired by several collectors, and has been presented in Israel and Europe in several private collections.