Materials carry distinctive properties and different meanings, and Friedland draws on an eclectic variety of them to express her artistic vision. Selecting the right medium is integral to every project, in telling and presenting its story. During 40 prolific years, the artist has mastered a wide variety of materials and techniques to add to her most intuitive medium, painting in oils.
They include sculpting in metal and ceramic, designing rugs, embroidery, carvings, fresco, murals and stained glass, working with iron, copper, bronze, gold, fabric, glass, wood, cement and clay.(1) The combination of media is deliberately chosen to create associations — sometimes the choice is time-honored materials, to reflect the traditional context; sometimes it is new, synthetic media , such as epoxies and polymers, to contrast it. One medium flows into the next and she passionately researches them and experiments with them in a process leading her along new paths. “Embroidery, for example, can be transformed into the shape of an oval vase,” she says.(2)
(see Artworks for Urban Space).
Working with a variety of media deepens Friedland’s understanding of the essence of differing materials, which then finds expression on canvas in her most intuitive art form — painting. (3) The materials can be the painting’s main subject, its background or literally placed on the canvas.
The process of fashioning art from different media involves collaboration with many different craftsmen and workshops, (4) many of whom — like the themes and content of much of the artist’s work — are rooted in Jerusalem. “Art is a connector,” she says. “Creating together, you connect people… all kinds of people… you work together toward the same purpose. To me, this interaction is what makes it subline.”
(See the artist’s work with different media in Work and Projects.)
