At 8:43 AM on October 7, 2023, a rocket struck my home.
We survived because of the mamad — the reinforced room built into Israeli homes, meant to shield lives from the worst.
This series — “Mamad” — was born not from the event itself, but from what came after. From the quiet dread, the sleepless nights, the child asking questions I had no answers to. It is about trauma — but also about the inner work of survival.
Because what saved me wasn’t just concrete walls. It was the moment I found my internal mamad: a safe mental space where my identity, my art, and my voice remained untouched.
“Mamad” is a ceramic installation, accompanied by a symbolic fairy tale.
Each ceramic form references a shoe — distorted, hollowed, burned, fantastical.
Some cradle figures, others resemble ruins. Some are glazed, glossy, other parts remain raw. The shoes are both containers and carriers. They speak of people displaced, but still walking.
The fairy tale serves as a soft entry point to a heavy theme — a way for adults and children alike to process what cannot be said plainly. Together, the objects and the story create a healing experience: tactile, visual, and emotional.
Some cradle figures, others resemble ruins. Some are glazed, glossy, other parts remain raw. The shoes are both containers and carriers. They speak of people displaced, but still walking.
The fairy tale serves as a soft entry point to a heavy theme — a way for adults and children alike to process what cannot be said plainly. Together, the objects and the story create a healing experience: tactile, visual, and emotional.
Why a Fairy Tale?
In moments of destruction, we need stories to help us reimagine wholeness.
The fairy tale woven around this work is not one of magic triumph, but of quiet hope. A character who finds a shelter within herself. A child who plants a seed in cracked earth. A pair of shoes that carry memory, not just feet.
Beyond the Mamad
This project is for anyone whose world has ever cracked open.
For those who live with invisible alarms, with a heart trained to brace for impact.
For those learning to carry both vulnerability and strength in the same body.
Through art, I try to rebuild the floor under my feet.
And maybe, just maybe — offer a piece of it to others.
Materials: Stoneware, glaze, oxide, narrative text
