Amir's House from the series The Place of Place is a subset of photo-etchings inspired by photographs I took at Amir's house, in Umm al-Fahm, an Arab city located in the Haifa District of Israel. The set is part of a collective project organized by Umm al-Fahm’s Gallery and Museum of Palestinian Art. The project has been exhibited in the homes of seven city dwellers, who opened their doors and their hearts to our group of Palestinian and Jewish-Israeli artists.
My ongoing conversations with Amir during visits to his home have dwelled on the complex connection between man and place, and on the personal and collective memory of the inherited past. The old house on its ancient foundation, the handprints of those who have plastered it over the years, the grooves etched by water into the centuries-old stones in the courtyard and on the stairs leading to the house and orchard, inspired me to work with double and triple plates. This method builds intricate etchings layer by layer and allows me to metaphorically represent the complex historical events which repeatedly shape our places, the movements of exile and migration.