It's not easy being a religious artist – especially one who believes in the right of Jews to live in Judea and Samaria – but art is her work, and she loves it, says Hannah Brom, a serious artist who has been working with elements as diverse as metal and paper for nearly 40 years. Brom's current show, Earthpictures, is now on display at the prestigious Jerusalem Theater, where it can be viewed through February 10.
In the show, Brom says she tries to meld “color and impression to create a new reality” out of elements of paper; magazine clippings, photos, scenery prints and traditional art combine in a collage that expresses Brom's view of the ideal world. This is real art – not just a Photoshop paste-up job, but one that expresses true, inner feelings, the way real art is supposed to, Brom tells Israel National News.
“Unity, the melding together of different realities and forces, is an important theme for me,” Brom says. In her student days in the prestigious Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, where she was born and raised, Brom began working with diverse elements such as metals and plastics, “as was the style at the time,” she says. She later began working with softer materials, eventually settling on paper, carton, and other similar materials, and since her aliyah in 1985, she has created many works, which have been shown in shows large and small. “I try to meld together different scenes from different places – photos from South America, scenes from the Middle East, people from around the world. It's an artistic expression of unity; we all see reality as different, and my works try to bring together these different views,” she says.
Another important theme in Brom's work is the primacy of the Land of Israel. “I have many works that show the Negev, the Shomron, and other parts of the land, showing the spirit of the place and the people that live there,” she says.
The affection she shows for the Land of Israel actually makes her somewhat of an odd duck in Tel Aviv's ultra-leftist artist circles, but that doesn't bother Brom. “I certainly have gotten my share of comments and criticism. Once, I was interviewed by Ma'ariv for its Style magazine, and they all but ignored my work to concentrate on my politics. They tried to put me in a 'box,'” says Brom. “Just because I am religious and am sympathetic to Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, they felt, I 'must be' or 'cannot be' what I am, based on their prejudices.”
After the initial reactions, though, the art world, including galleries, has become familiar with her work, and she no longer is bothered by negativity. “An artist has to express what he or she feels; that is true art,” she says, and even those opposed to her politics have learned to respect her “muse.”
Brom acknowledges that, on the surface, being a professional artist seems like a strange career choice for an observant Jew. “I've been interested in art ever since I was a teenager, and as a very observant teenager and later young adult, I had my share of challenges,” she says. But she noted that she was always respected by those with whom she worked. “There's certainly no reason for an observant young person not to go into art; while there are a few halachic problems in school, such as the requirement to paint nudes, this is generally not an issue.”
When she says “art,” Brom means not only putting brush to paper or canvas; “music, cinema, and even dance are included as well, although there may be some halachic issues with dance.” But in general, she feels the arts are certainly a place where observant youngsters – and adults – can find their place. The Jerusalem based Emunah College of Arts and Technology offers an environment where religious young women can study art and drama, while the Orot College in Elkanah does the same for dance.
It all depends on what you have to say. “I have seen thousands of works of art at hundreds of shows over the years, and you can really tell about an artist's feelings by looking at his or her work,” she says. “Some works are just seething with the artist's anger and negativity. I believe that observant artists, who because of their beliefs would not produce anything too negative, have something positive to say about life, in a modest and life-affirming way,” Brom adds. “Any observant person who has something to say should not be afraid to say it, because it will probably come out beautiful.”
Visitors to her exhibition at the Jerusalem Theater can see for themselves.