Two Elements

In creating this portfolio, I contemplated whether to address the topic of war. Ultimately, I felt it would be wrong to overlook it, I know where I live and I don't want to turn a blind eye.
In the spring of 2023 (six months before the events of October 7th and the war which has followed), I was tasked with creating art inspired by a poem of my choosing for a Graphic Design course.

“Two Elements,” written by Israeli poet Zelda (1914-1984), lays out the infinite struggle between the cypress and the flame. Verses extracted from this poem, paired with manipulated images, serve to highlight the stark and complex realities of my homeland.

TWO ELEMENTS
Zelda

The flame says to the cypress:
“When I see how calm,
how full of pride you are,
something inside me goes wild –
How can one live this awesome life
without a touch of madness,
of spirit,
of imagination,
of freedom,
with only a grim, ancient pride?
If I could, I would burn down
the establishment
that we call the seasons,
along with your cursed dependence
on land and air and sun,
on rain and dew.”
The cypress does not answer.
He knows there is madness in him,
and freedom,
and imagination,
and spirit.
But the flame will not understand,
the flame will not believe.