By Charlene Freadman Kahn, JTNews Correspondent
A local artist of Israeli origin is currently presenting a small but vibrant show on the effects of war in the Middle East. The solo show, at the Wallingford Neighborhood Office, is a visual and emotional tour of the war-torn Israeli landscape offered through a series of oil paintings and mixed-media work.
Anat Hanoch Ollestad is a native of Haifa with family still living there. “Coming from Israel, I have lived and experienced the feelings of wars and terrorism. America, too, unfortunately, was struck by terrorism and is in a midst of war…. Because of my background and [the] history of my people I choose to select the subject of war out of necessity. In art we have the freedom to freeze those sad moments, and bring out those hidden fears through the images we create.”
The focal point of the show is clearly “The Promised Land?” a mixed-media work and map of Israel that dramatically brings home the devastation of war in vividly colorful and creative terms. Although no faces are depicted, anger and despair are apparent in the use of blood-red paint splashes, touching on geographic hot spots like the Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria, and a burnished Dome identifying the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. On the map, the artist pasted two pages of Hebrew script (from Numbers) citing the location and borders of “The Promised Land.”
“I question [the term] “˜The Promised Land’…because of the war and the terrorism. There is too much rooted hatred,” observes Anat. “The history of the Arab world is fighting against the West.” Yet, she looks to the future because “the human spirit always hopes for peace.”
Anat is an Israeli of Sephardic origin. She speaks Ladino and her brother plays the bouzouki (a Greek stringed instrument). For the past 30 years, her parents have run the Dolphin, a Haifa seafood restaurant. Here in Seattle, she continues her cultural tradition, teaching at a local Sephardic religious school.
A photographer, painter and poet, Anat holds a degree in Fine Arts from the College of Charleston and a second bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from the University of Haifa. She favors Shakespeare because “his work is very political,” yet appreciates the mystical poetry and art of William Blake. Anat plans to pursue a graduate degree in painting in the United States but sees herself as part of both Israeli and American culture, traveling between both countries.
As an Israeli growing up in ‘70s, Anat came in frequent contact with Palestinian Arabs and their culture. An appreciation for Middle Eastern architecture and color is evident in of her paintings of interiors. In an Arab-lsraeli version of “Kilroy was here,” successive battalions of Arab and Israeli soldiers each make their mark, in Arabic and Hebrew, on the clay walls of an abandoned structure in the Golan. The artist drove through the Golan Heights to capture the scene.
Anat is painter who displays a thoughtful and visually affecting reaction to the impact of war. Her work is on view through February. This is Anat’s second solo show; an earlier show was held at a Haifa gallery. Contact the Wallingford Neighborhood Office at 206-632-3165.