Book Object, Hatishma Koli Rechoki Sheli, One-of-a-Kind Artwork

“Will you hear my voice when you are far away?” asks this piece of art, calling on the lyrics of a classic Israeli song and answering with a portable voice: a book. This one-of-a-kind piece of art uses a menorah painted in wax on the cover of a book to evoke the passage of time. Nails and string bind the menorah’s sense of time to the book, just as we are bound to the passage of time in our own stories. Own a piece of someone’s story with this unique, repurposed book, so that you can hear a voice from far away.

Nechama Levendel’s work features a unique combination of artforms. She repurposes books using an ancient technique of encaustic wax painting. While this technique is traditionally used on wooden boards, Levendel’s unique works incorporate old discarded books and the drippings of candle wax. She has lived in Ein Hod Artists’ Village since 1984 and shared her work with Kolbo in an exclusive 2013 exhibit.

We’ll let the artist herself tell you about her Book Objects:
“I started working with books during our time in Germany as visiting artists. We were wandering in the flea market on a very cold day in the winter of the year 2000. Suddenly, my eyes came across a pile of used books lying on the cold black asphalt. I began to wonder where have they been, who had held them and in which home, how they got there… many thoughts of all kinds. This was especially profound given the history of that place, a place where they burned books and also people. A book is a private item that tells a story. I thought about what it means to print thoughts, share them, and how others buy them. I find used books that were a part of someone’s life and that they held in their hands. These books hold the story of the writer, the owner, and from this I add my own language and interpretation. It is now a book object that tells a completely new story with its own unique visual aesthetic.”

• Approximately 5.5’’ x 8.75’’
• Made of book, nails, string, wax.
• Hebrew reads “Hatishma Koli Rechoki Sheli” and translates to “Will you hear my voice when you are far away?”
• Kolbo exclusive