ME AND THE GLASS

Body and glass

My name is Tahal Nas, a graduate of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and a glass artist for four years.

Glass for me is not a raw material or an ornament, but a garment. The glass reflects my body and my soul. through glass I create meaning and emotion that guide me in my quest for self-search. Its touch is not pleasant as a plain garment, but painful, cold and sharp. Through the making of glass and touching it with my body, I discover new and daring things about myself.

For most of my life I was educated in a conservative and traditional manner. Modesty and chastity, among other values, were the main focus in this way of life. I have learned that clothes cover me, protect me from any harm… The clothing is pleasant and safe and through it I express my modesty and devotion - "The dignity of a king's daughter lies within her." But as time passed, I wanted to break out, to run away ... I felt trapped. Art was a refuge for me. The entire process of glass blowing became my journey that has not yet ended, through which I discover many new things about myself. The process of casting glass in the oven, swollen like lava, melting and casting, expresses the fire that bursts out of me, out of my body...

During the process of burning, the glass falls, cools and hardens .. There is a feeling of relaxation .. Relaxing body and soul in a joint dance. The process motivates me to create material on my body, Thereby physically uniting with the glass. A sharp, cold, fragile substance… when it attached to my body, all the feelings and emotions merge together in a perfect harmonious manner.

In the process of glass blowing, the glass goes through many stages - from the moment it becomes granular until the moment that a complete, fragile material is created. This is actually the process that I myself have undergone and identified with. Despite the fragility of the glass, it is a very solid material that "knows what it wants from itself" - this process constitutes my strength and motivates me to create from a momentary situation, out of a feeling that dictates and forces me to reveal more and more layers away from myself… everything come from within, from absolute truth, from a honest and strong intuition.

In the glass-blowing process, I feel internal combustion. Like the glass, My soul also melts and forms into a new shape. My internal combustion shapes the glass, and me - from the inside out. The glass is grating, strong and powerful, and so am I. Like the glass, so do I shatter and solidify, run away and return, not here or there, or maybe everywhere.

The glass and the body are one to me. Glass is the continuity of my body. That Is the material that on the one hand protects and conceals and on the other, through it I discover new and fascinating inner worlds about myself. Through the glass I design many works that reflect my inner self and my personal journey. The glass reflects me, and through it I am revealed with great respect as a creative, proud, free woman. Like that king's daughter, now bursting out.

The glass-blowing process illustrates my journey to self-search as an artist, as a creator and as a woman. For me, the glass illustrates a powerful and self-confident feminism - proud of its gentleness and femininity, but also powerful and unstoppable; transparent and strong, warm and cool, capable of shattering but also of taking on a new form. Thus I see myself as an artist; Not compromising on my truth, always in motion, investigating and transforming, but always moving around the truth with intensity.