ARTIST BIO:
Ronit Joy Holtz (b. 1997, United States) is a painter and an installation artist from Kadima, Israel. She completed a B.F.A in painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design in the spring of 2019. Her work has been featured in galleries and private collections in New York, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Arizona, Texas, California, France, Tel Aviv, Netanya and Herzliya. In the recent years Ronit has participated in exhibitions both within the US and internationally. She currently resides in Tel Aviv, Israel as a permanent studio artist and art teacher, aspiring to become an Art Therapist.
Photo by Nick Johnson
Photo by Ori Ben Zvi
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I create sculptural paintings that integrate an array of mixed media. Engaging with a variety of mediums, I employ fibers, wax, leather, salt, soil, sand and anything my hands are eager to feel, to create raised layers on my surfaces. As a spiritual pilgrimage, my creative process involves relentless scavenging of objects to be placed inside my work. This creates a resurrection and harmony between the past and present. As a young girl, I dreamed of becoming an archeologist. Today, my studio practices echo this, as I am constantly discovering and collecting fragments of the earth and her people.
I am interested in the alchemy of materials which speaks literally and metaphysically through layers. The energy of the combination of materials in my work visually portray my spiritual beliefs while mapping out my ever changing identity. As an artist, my process involves aspects of cultural anthropology. I feel the duty to narrate both the joy and pain that people experience spiritually, politically, religiously, ethically and culturally. Through my paintings, I function as teacher and student, illuminating the questions, pains, hopes and prophecies.
My artwork is about a story of place. It is used to create awareness for me, for the audience and exists to question and challenge traditional ideas.