3D PICTURE ART

Coincidence or a turn of fate ?

One night I was browsing the Amazon website. A large black book with an impressive title on its cover caught my eye – “Book Of The Dead.” The book was about the black pharaohs who came from Ethiopia to Egypt and about ancient jewelry. A beetle-shaped seal ring caught my attention, and a thought loomed in my mind – what would such a piece of jewelry look like if made entirely of real insects? My positive gut feeling convinced me that this was the direction I needed to follow, and the decision was made: I would travel to Ethiopia.

Two weeks later, I was already on the plane to Addis Ababa, feeling there I would find the right image to breathe life into my idea. All signs reassured me this was the journey I was meant to take. Yet, wandering the local villages and walking for miles over many days yielded nothing. For a moment, the romantic notion of ​​following my intuition seemed like some childish whim, and I couldn’t understand what the hell I was doing there. Moreover, communication with the locals was impossible, and the deeper I wandered amidst the tribes in the Umu Valley, the more lost I felt.

Two days before returning to Israel, I set out to experience the local market in Jinka, a suburban town in southern Ethiopia. I walked around the people, taking pictures, tasting, living the moment, clear of all expectations. Suddenly I felt someone pull my shirt. I turned around, and a pair of bright turquoise eyes looked at me from someone of 130 cm in height. The whole crazy journey I went through refined into that single moment – when I met Abush. After we negotiated a fair payment, he agreed, to my delight, to stand for a few minutes in front of my camera. His sharp gaze was full of confidence and vitality I’ll never forget.

Upon returning home, I went straight to work. First, I contacted butterfly and insect farms far and wide around the globe, from whom I collected insects after their natural death. Then, months of trial-and-error and research inspired by nature’s color combinations led eventually to my final creation – the first jewel in the world made entirely of butterflies and insects. I designed it in multilayers, part on top of another – just like tribal textures were creating a complete, harmonious artwork. I named it “Abush from Jinka.”

In 2019 I decided to try my luck and look for another figure for my evolving 3D series. Something drew me to the Amazon region of Brazil. I searched for a tribal type with a bold, expressive look to powerfully carry the second butterfly jewel in the series.

I started my journey in Manaus, the gateway to Brazilian Amazonas. It is an amazing tropical area teeming with rivers and local tribes living in the depths of its jungles. I embarked on the journey accompanied by a local Indian guide, an interpreter who spoke the regional dialects. Within the timeframe I had, I tried to reach as many native inhabitants as possible, learn about their culture, experience daily life with them in the woods, and document the last remnants of a vanishing world.

For three weeks, I traveled amongst many tribes and photographed numerous people, and then I crossed paths with an impressive man called Asariamos. He was what I had been looking for. My interpreter, who explained my ideas to the chief of that tribe, asked for his permission to use Asariamos’ photo. We cut a barter deal: three chickens in exchange for a photo. The chief agreed. The interpreter explained to Asariamos what his photography would become, and he, in turn, was very excited to stand in front of a camera for the first time in his life.

I searched for a suitable photo shoot location around the village, and when I returned, I saw a commotion surrounding Asariamos. Tribesmen gathered around him and held a ceremony where they adorned his face with tribal illustrations and danced around him in a circle. At some point, one of the men placed a blue feather crown on his head, which according to tradition, passes down from a father to son. I was mesmerized by the enchanting atmosphere, and I knew: That was the moment I had been waiting for.

The tribe members followed the process with great curiosity. The atmosphere was festive, and the energy was indescribable. As evening fell, we all sat around a campfire together. A crocodile, hunted by the men of the village, was slowly roasting on the open fire. The sounds of drums and ceremonial dances surrounded the campfire, and it felt like time had stopped hundreds of years ago, and I had just stepped into a picture-perfect scene.