Mika Hadar’s photographs are beautifully composed works, poignantly capturing a moment in time in the transiency of nature. Her solo exhibition at the Tribal Art and Israeli Art Gallery in Tel Aviv, curated by Michali Adler and Dr. Galia Duchen Arieli, is aptly called: “Revealed and Hidden.”
Hadar explained that she was inspired while traveling in Cambodia many years ago. There, she came across of a local artist who was confined to a wheelchair and expressed himself through art. She found his paintings and drawings captivating, and this motivated her to explore her own creative and spiritual side.
This inspirational story of courage and creativity inspired her, not only in her art, but also in her personal life. Hadar suffered life-changing injuries from a car accident. She then had to face a battle against cancer. Her creative side has helped her overcome feelings of anger, bitterness and pain.
Hadar’s background includes studying pottery, photography and sculpture at the Harrow School of Art in London, as well as painting at the Academia De Belle Arti in Verona. Her poetry, In the Seam, was published in 2016 and will soon be followed by a second title, The Third Watch. She also teaches yoga, meditation and is a practitioner of the Alexander Technique. These interests and skills are not simply a fragmented and isolated part of her life, but are integral to her work as a visual artist.
View this post on Instagram
Photographing a flower each day led to her increased sensitivity toward nature and awareness of her surroundings.
And that is precisely why it is the camera – with its instantaneous grasp of that sublime moment – is the perfect medium for her, rather than the longer, more drawn-out process of painting.
She also cites the Impressionists, in particular Monet as well as the Abstract Expressionist Rothko as having a seminal influence on her work. In both cases, they “broke the form,” finding new ways and techniques of expressing nature. Both works bring the viewer into the present. Monet accomplishes this through the exhilarating flow of change and movement. Rothko achieves this in relationships of color and the gestalt of awareness and mindfulness.
Her work hovers between the visible and the metaphysical, somewhere beneath the kaleidoscopic flow of life; that tenuous balance between perception and intuition.
In this sense, one might describe Mika’s work as at once literal – in its reference to nature in an obvious way, and transcendent – in the intimate sense of that which is beyond form and formal perception.
Combined with her words, Hadar’s work goes beyond the noise and throng of modern life. It pierces to the core.
In this sense an art bound by time enters the portals of the timeless, of that which lies beneath the surface, waiting to be heard and seen.
Originals and prints of Hadar’s works are available for purchase.
For more information, see www.mikahadar.org and the gallery at www.tribalart-culture.com