Esther Simonis

In her practical as well as her theoretical research, artist Esther Simonis investigates the archaeological excavation as a metaphor for a personal, introspective delving and searching process which also manifests in her art-making. She is a well-established artist with a Master’s Degree (Visual Arts) from the University of South Africa. 

She majored in Printmaking, using a collagist approach, which entails an accumulation and superimposing of layers of images and shapes, that represent the broken, incompleteness of archaeological ruins. 

Her involvement in archaeological excavations in both Israel and South Africa gave her the opportunity and background for Landart projects in which she focused on the layering processes - the overlay of the past with the present. 

• "The artist and the archaeologist share a parallel vision. Archaeology aims to study the early human past, using the only evidence available to us. The material remains of that past are then interpreted by the artist according to his/ her insight." 

• "I moved my 'studio' underground as well as above ground and found my roots, so to speak."

• "The artist, much like the archaeologist, is digging through past individual experiences to reveal layers and segments of collective and personal history."