Shlava Hadar Hochstadt (born 1952, Israel) is an interdisciplinary Israeli artist whose work focuses on painting and drawing. Hadar Hochstadt's works are rooted in her inner world and personal biography while referring to the history of art, literature and music as well as to Jungian psychology, archetypes and myths from different cultures. The cycle of life, intergenerational memory and interpersonal connections are among the prominent themes in her work.Her examination of memory, which ranges from the personal to the collective – is a means of self-exploration and at the same time it is cultural universal.

​

Deciphering is a central practice and an essential element in her creative process. Hadar Hochstadt deals with the human experience through self-reflection and observation of states of consciousness. She explores dream states, memory and delves into the unconscious. 

​

Her world of images is symbolic and layered. It consists of shapes and symbols from Norse, Germanic and Egyptian mythologies, objects related to family history and textual elements in Hebrew and German (her native language). It is anchored in the realms of the subconscious and formalized into a personal pictorial language that interweaves symbolic, surrealist and magical components.

Her works reflect a cyclical perception of time, as quotes, forms, and themes that appear in early works recurring in later works- in various roles and a different relation to the rest of the details in the work. The transformation of the images and forms in her works is related to cyclical time, which goes beyond linear time – a common approach in theological and mystical traditions.

 

Download full CV