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Sept. 14, 2007
Radiating Jewish well being
Lori Goldberg shares her artistic talent, tzedakah, with community.
OLGA LIVSHIN
Lori Goldberg first realized she wanted to be an artist at the
age of 10. Today, Goldberg still cannot imagine herself as anything
but an artist. Her work is an exploration of light and shadow; an
artistic adventure in search of the truth. Her new exhibition, Resolution,
which recently opened at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery, is
all "about being human."
Goldberg's personal journey towards resolution began after high
school, when she studied art at the Langara College and at the Ontario
College of Art in Toronto. Like many art students, she started out
using the academic style of painting. A few years later, a trip
to New York opened her eyes to the different painting trends. American
expressionists Archille Gorky, Willem de Kooning and Helen Frankenthaler
affected her art tremendously. After her New York experience, she
began experimenting with her first abstract canvases.
Goldberg's life path hasn't always been easy. On the artistic front,
she has been a successful painter from the beginning. During the
last three decades, she has participated in more than 30 solo and
group exhibitions in Canada, the United States and Germany.
On the personal front though, she suffered the worst tragedy a parent
could endure – her first child died. She is now the single
mother of two boys, age 10 and 13.
Another significant aspect of Goldberg's life as an artist and a
person is her teaching. Over the years, she has taught many young
painters at various Vancouver art schools, as well as giving private
lessons in her studio. "I'm an inspirational teacher,"
she said. "I'm tough on my students. I push them towards discovering
their own creative vision. I encourage their exploration of different
methods and techniques. I'm opening the door into art for them."
Hungry for new ways to express her blooming imagination and striving
for artistic growth, Goldberg constantly widens her own creative
toolbox. She studied mask carving and painting in Indonesia, feminist
art theory at the Vancouver Art Gallery and even took several months
of clairvoyancy training.
Charity, especially Jewish charity, is also very important for Goldberg.
"I like giving," she said. One of her recent charity projects
was the cover for the Jewish community telephone directory, which
is done as a fund-raiser for the Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary
School.
Another recent donation, made to the Jewish National Fund in July,
was a painting for the former residents of Ganei Tal in Israel,
to commemorate the second anniversary of their evacuation from the
Gaza Strip. Although Goldberg herself had never been there, she
captured on her canvas the settlers' nostalgia towards their abandoned
homes and their optimism for the future. Goldberg intentionally
left a bare frame around the picture, so everyone at the JNF's Negev
Dinner could sign their names and record their blessings for the
people of Ganei Tal.
Goldberg's generous nature comes to the fore in her new exhibition
of figurative abstracts. The most lighthearted painting in Resolution
is called "Bar Mitzvah Boy." Unlike many of its neighbors
on the walls of the gallery, the painting is a celebration of vivid
colors, mostly blues, reds and yellows. It illuminates the gallery
like a candelabrum. "It's my son's gift to me," Goldberg
said about the painting.
Another pivotal work in the collection, "Firefly Rainy Goodbye,"
hangs on the opposite wall. Its palette is pastel, almost translucent.
Standing in front of the painting long enough, one can practically
smell the raindrops in the air. According to the artist, the painting
represents all the goodbyes in our lives, with the rain cleansing
away the sadness and the fireflies, sparkling cheerfully around
the traveller, lighting the road to the future.
The entire show seems to be about transformation from old to new,
about light expanding from the inside out, about seeking answers
and braving the unexplored. "Warrior," dark and brooding,
embodies the beginning of this passage, our earthbound selves, stalwart
despite life's blows. "Release" is the middle point, a
contemplative piece, opening the door into the world, stepping out
towards the emotional light.
"Soul Connect," one of the brightest and bluest images
of the exhibit, proclaims Goldberg's ethnic roots, radiating her
Jewish identity. And the namesake of the collection, "Resolution,"
emphasizes a link between souls. Of it, Goldberg said: "You
stand alone, but connected to everyone else; alone, but not lonely.
See the little penguin looking up at the main figure? It's the symbol
of a joyful child in all of us."
Resolution is at the Zack Gallery to Oct. 10.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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