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Tolla Inbar- Biography |
Tolla was born in 1958 in Germany. Until 1971, she attended Merz School in Stuttgart, specializing in the arts of ceramics and sculpture. In 1971, she immigrated to Israel. In 1977, she took her first course on sculpture at the Bustan Institute and held her first group exhibition at Bet Hagdudim, Avihail. Tolla studied at Avni Institute of Arts (1977-1981) in sculpture, photography, drawing, and graphics. During this time she worked in stone and wood with known Russian sculptors and held several group exhibitions in 1984. Tolla also completed a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology at Tel Aviv University. In 1988, she moved to Udim, near Netanya and opened a private gallery and studio where she had her first large one-person show. In 1989, she continued her studies in modern art at Tel Aviv University and with Dalia Hecker. Tolla has also completed advanced degrees in sculpture and jewelry-making. She lives and works in Udim, Israel.
Artists Statement
Having created sculpture almost all my life, intensively and professionally for the last 20 years, I have been asked many times about the motivation and inspiration underlying my artistic output. The mental and physical satisfactions that follows the achievement of elegant design is a major motivations, but this relentless drive to keep creating different expressions of the ancient human spiritual quest for the divine also invokes in me immeasurable satisfaction as I attempt to examine our existence in the universe.
I try to make people stop from everyday activities and concerns, step out of the realistic and materialistic race of our time, and take a moment to think about life. I believe in, as philosopher Joan Borysenko puts it, “spiritual optimism”. I believe we are fragments of a larger consciousness, all sols unique yet of similar essence. Each body cell is encoded with the full intelligence of the whole body; the creative intelligence of the universe is present in each of us. We are holograms of “one mind”, and this is the distillation of my artistic philosophy. The soul is a reflection of the universe, which motivates us each to follow an individual spiritual path, to reach a collective universal goal through personal achievement.
Of course, the attempt to translate philosophical thoughts into three-dimensional art is a multi-faceted task. Action-the physical effort of the soul- is a major component of my work, characterized by motion. I employ genderless, naturalistic figures to emphasize the embodiment of the soul. My figures engage in activities motivated by ambition and aspiration, creating the feel of defying gravity, a victory of spirit over matter. I also use coupled figures to mirror the spiritual growth of the male and female soul, expressing support and the suffusion of the personal to the higher ideals of the group goal. Some of my later work expresses a broader “chi” within the female energy; a wider bodied figure, I humorously call “Matilda”, which came into being as I matured as an artist in independence, spiritual growth, and confidence.
Combined with action, motion, growth and effort are elements of reflection and rest. For me, the process of physical creation is intertwined with philosophical thought, resulting in interdependent growth of mind and body, a process, which I hope will continue all my life.
Tolla
Artists Statement
Having created sculpture almost all my life, intensively and professionally for the last 20 years, I have been asked many times about the motivation and inspiration underlying my artistic output. The mental and physical satisfactions that follows the achievement of elegant design is a major motivations, but this relentless drive to keep creating different expressions of the ancient human spiritual quest for the divine also invokes in me immeasurable satisfaction as I attempt to examine our existence in the universe.
I try to make people stop from everyday activities and concerns, step out of the realistic and materialistic race of our time, and take a moment to think about life. I believe in, as philosopher Joan Borysenko puts it, “spiritual optimism”. I believe we are fragments of a larger consciousness, all sols unique yet of similar essence. Each body cell is encoded with the full intelligence of the whole body; the creative intelligence of the universe is present in each of us. We are holograms of “one mind”, and this is the distillation of my artistic philosophy. The soul is a reflection of the universe, which motivates us each to follow an individual spiritual path, to reach a collective universal goal through personal achievement.
Of course, the attempt to translate philosophical thoughts into three-dimensional art is a multi-faceted task. Action-the physical effort of the soul- is a major component of my work, characterized by motion. I employ genderless, naturalistic figures to emphasize the embodiment of the soul. My figures engage in activities motivated by ambition and aspiration, creating the feel of defying gravity, a victory of spirit over matter. I also use coupled figures to mirror the spiritual growth of the male and female soul, expressing support and the suffusion of the personal to the higher ideals of the group goal. Some of my later work expresses a broader “chi” within the female energy; a wider bodied figure, I humorously call “Matilda”, which came into being as I matured as an artist in independence, spiritual growth, and confidence.
Combined with action, motion, growth and effort are elements of reflection and rest. For me, the process of physical creation is intertwined with philosophical thought, resulting in interdependent growth of mind and body, a process, which I hope will continue all my life.
Tolla