Light Keeper

Paper construction with ink and archival tape on board

42 x 60cm

Light Keeper reflects the quiet power of holding on to hope, warmth, and possibility

This artwork is gold and reflective

While it catches the light, it also gives it back, reminding us that what we carry within has the power to shape where we place our focus

The repeated forms speak to the small, intentional acts that build a meaningful life with moments greater than itself

As the poet and activist Amanda Gorman wrote, “There is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it

If only we are brave enough to be it”

Galia Gluckman creates large-scale, multi-dimensional artworks through the layered use of hand-cut strips of paper

Born in 1973 in Tel Aviv, Gluckman initially studied and worked as a Fashion Designer in London and New York, before focusing solely on Fine Art from 2004

The intuitive process of cutting and pasting paper takes the viewer on an oscillating journey between order and disorder

Each strip of paper is painted, cut and attached, layer upon layer

Gluckman is mostly instinctively guided to form shapes and structures that build upon themselves to become new forms

Unveiling the intricacies, the viewer is invited to observe both minute details and majesty of scale

The artist has developed an intimate relationship with her material, working rhythmically with the meditative construction of each work

In a world increasingly driven by automation and syntheticism, Gluckman is intent on exploring and amplifying the human qualities that machines cannot replicate

It is the unveiling of the intricacies that create a sense of stillness and quiet that capture interest

The cutting and reassembling of the artist’s material is reflective of the shifting binary perceptions of all things; we are creatures of balance and imbalance

Living requires us to construct, deconstruct and to then rebuild our existence constantly

Gluckman has exhibited at Untitled Art fair in Miami, Investec art fair in Cape Town and the Sydney art fair in Australia

The artist has had solo and group exhibitions with SMAC Gallery, Everard Read, Ebony and Southern Guild in Cape Town, and is preparing for her 2nd solo with M Contemporary Gallery in Sydney in October 2023

Gluckman is the recipient of the 2009 Global Green Artist Challenge award, which was exhibited at the International Art Expo in New York City, USA; as well as the 2010 New York Public Artwork Commission which was commissioned by the Great Neck Plaza Mayor, Jean Celender, in New York City, USA

Gluckman is represented in a number of private and corporate collections, namely the Hilton Hotel Group in the USA; Galila Barzilai-Hollander’s private collection in Belgium; the Dame Anita Roddick Collection in the UK; and a number of private collections in Australia, the UAE, Israel, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the USA

In South Africa, these collections include the Leeu Collection Franschhoek; M&C Saatchi Abel; Rupert Collection; South African Presidential Collection; Spier Arts Collection; Investec Collection; Galila Barzilaï-Hollander Collection and The Ackerman-Berman Collection

Galia Gluckman currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa

CONTACT DETAILS:

Auctioneer: African Tails

Contact No: +27 (0) 21 510 7360

Email: [email protected]