Francis Bacon. He manages to turn color into flesh. There is something magical about his use of paint and oil paints in particular. I am also inspired by artist Tamar Getter, who used to be my lecturer and we are still in touch. I learned a lot from her drawings, which have such a confident line. She inspires me to create something with complete confidence, something that is refined to the simplest gesture.
My latest exhibition is titled 'Mound'. I was interested in creating works in which the material – oil paints – overcomes the surface. The most basic principle of the exhibition is the mound, which is rooted in a process of accumulation and addition alongside an act of burial and destruction. All works were created in a process of material accumulation and concealment and a process of exposure of layers that are no longer visible. The experience I wanted to create is that of what we do not see, what is buried underneath the surface.
My working method started accidentally from a painting I hated and wanted to bury in a huge layer of black paint. This developed into a process in which I create what I am ashamed of and then bury it. Through shame, I discovered completely new aspects of my art.
I always felt an urge to create, even before I really knew what it meant to be an artist. I was quite strange growing up, both in my creative choices and in an identity that is more queer and different. As a child, I did not experience culture nor did I visit museums; art wasn't present at home. We were a Moroccan family living in Be'er Sheva that had a very practical point of view on life. During my military service, I was involved in education and thought a lot about what kind of education I would have liked to receive as a child. It made me feel comfortable with the desire to study art.
Today, teaching is a central aspect of my life and career. I spend half of my time as a teacher and the other half in the studio. There is some synchronization between the artist and the teacher in me. I often take things from the kids back to the studio – conceptually, as well as artworks they've made and wished to throw away. There is mutual stimulation between these two parts of my life.
Tamir Chen, 28, painter. Lives and works in Tel Aviv.
