IAILA

Merav Sudaey : Goddess

 

In Merav Sudaey's solo exhibition, “Goddess”, the gallery space is transformed into a site of admiration to a pseudo-primordial divinity.

While she draws inspiration from wall paintings in Hindu and Buddhist temples and monasteries,as well as from majestic tombs of pharaohs, the artist replaces all female figures - terrestrial and otherworldly - with the image of her own.

Blurring distinctions between the contemporary and the ancient, Sudaey’s large-scale paintings bring to life souls from an old world, but also recontextualize powerful femininity that echoes the past to our present day. 

 

At times she is Nut, the mythological Egyptian goddess of the cosmos and the sky, a protector of the distinction between chaos and order, day and night, filtering the dead on their way to the afterlife, often portrayed arching over the earth as a dome of stars, shielding from the openness of the unknown galaxy above. At other times, Sudaey is the Hindu dark-skinned goddess Kali, a protector with endless energy, destroyer of demons and killer of ignorance and ego, associated with death but also with motherhood.

 

In an era of destructive male dominance in many parts of the world, “Goddess” wishes to offer an alternative, and remind the viewers of ancient times, in which female governance was admired and trusted. 

We invite the viewers to a journey of empowerment and sensibility, sensuality and caregiving, domination and submission.

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• An earlier version of “Goddess” was commissioned by and shown at the Haifa Museum of Art, August 2024 - February 2025 (Curator: Dr. Kobi Ben-Meir)