“The moment when I can stay in the unknown and not be scared of being there. Not feel overwhelmed or helpless or lost. This moment is when things are crystal clear, and smooth like a slide…”
Name
Sivan Lavie
Profession
Painter!
Website
Who are you? What do you do?
I’m Sivan. I make objects and painting and words out of color. I’m a curious, energetic person. Color fields really fucking get me going. Nothing’z more fun than an adventure, people, the studio process; the trees outside are as exciting as the odd things that happen in the streets of the city. I have a sculptural, experimental, experiential approach to painting. It’s like a game.
Where are you from?
Tel Aviv
Your style in 3 words?
color/fun/dots
Your strength? Your weakness?
I have weird GREAT ideas, my weakness is that I can- at times- get all scared like a snail and crawl into my shell, instead of DOINGDOINGDOING the best of things (IWILL-IWILL-IWILL). I.e. I leap into unknown territory but HOW TO STAY THERE? Learning.
What makes you different?
I’m left-handed. I am an Aries. I am spontaneous. I am colorful, I have this interest in doing things that isn’t found every day. I am devoted and weird. Homeless people like me, kids like me, stray cats like me, people with beautiful deep eyes like me.
When did you decide to become an artist?
I went to a funeral yesterday and met this old couple there. They were in their 90s; I don’t recall meeting them before. He said, “hello I was your granddad’s best friend”- she said “wow Sivan I haven’t seen you since you were about 3 years old. How your grandma loved you,” “yes,” I lamented. She continues-“I remember how proudly she hung your drawings on the fridge. She was so proud of you…Anyway, what do you do now?” I have never, ever been happier to tell someone I am an artist. Thank you for this encouraging message from beyond the grave, 20 years after your death: grandma, I love you.
What do you find most fascinating about your work?
The moment when I can stay in the unknown and not be scared of being there. Not feel overwhelmed or helpless or lost. This moment is when things are crystal clear, and smooth like a slide- I go through all the motions from abstraction to action with no hesitations or barriers. It’s hard for it to happen but it’s mind-numbingly amazing when it does.
A few words about your favourite creation?
The surface is rough for the eye. It rattles. The eye travels in a white field, between and within colored dots like little worlds, like pills, like candy smarties, like feelings, stars, steps, ideas, a little crooked, fucked up, happy, exciting, like a beat. All-encompassing, enveloping and great to see-feel-touch. [i won’t tell you which piece]
Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
Richard Tuttle is a god. He never felt the need to make monumental work, and his abstraction stems from his soul. It’s real inspiring, so simple and equally captivating. Agnes Martin needed no one, she stared and stared at the New Mexico sky and endless beauty- everything and nothing- appeared. Such a gift to the world. Tal R’s paintings are EDIBLE. I am so sad I missed two of his solo shows recently, at Victoria Miro, London and Louisiana Museum, Denmark. Luckily there was one in a small group show in Sommer Contemporary, Tel Aviv, and I just glared at the colors and the glitter for about 40 minutes.
A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?
The idea involves an ear made of clay. Let’s see how it manifests itself. There are always many wheels and dots, and in between comes an image, something I see, imagine or write about. I’ve been doing abstract for a while but right now all my images can be described in words like “Ear” -i think i’m more in tune at the moment, but at the same time a little removed from my hands [awesome idea leading to dead stop]- i gotta let feelings be, and they will shift. They will certainly shift, watch this space.
Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“
My inner piece, ie. my inner peace, i’m working on it, and the art process helps a lot (i don’t think of it as “””career”””). Working from my instincts, listening to them in daily life. Hard work/ worth it.
2018: Where are we going?
I am walking in a dark forest. There is a lot around me, full of life, but I can’t quite see what it is. but when the sun rises I’ll see all the wonderful gifts of life. Waiting patiently.
When the going gets tough…
writing/coffee/reading/films/crying/ listening to abstract artists talk about their art/ people/ meeting people and making together/ painting!!
Your city’s favourite spots?
I love Tel Aviv, it’s a weird-weird place. On one hand capitalist and western, on the other, developing. There’s a weird juxtaposition of new modern buildings, for example, with diy-style mailboxes that people hang themselves on an ever growing jungle of mailbox-filled walls (I put together a show about this strange phenomenon). It really is a patchwork of events and things that happen, i like that it still has a very pirate/ bottom up aesthetic (dripping air conditioners on your face) Tel Aviv has a really great social/outdoor/cafe culture. My favourite places are a great cafe called Beta ve Grega, I can sit there all day sipping americanos and writing, no one will bother me. There’s an artists’ bar called Uganda, very low-key, shitty beer, everyone sits there for hours. If I get stuck in my studio process or am on my way home, i can always just stop there and there will be someone to talk to or drink with. It’s nice, it’s fun going alone (i didn’t use to do that) and meeting great, interesting people. My favorite club night is called kokshock, it’s uplifting, bringing together all the queers into a Berlin-style warehouse techno rave with fire escape smoking areas and bells and whistles. I also love leaving the city, the dead sea is my favorite place, and some places that are green in the north of the country like Klil are beautiful. Still discovering, there really are a lot of amazing places to see here.
Do you have a vision?
Yeah, actually, of myself doing a bunch of poetry readings in rooms colorful like circuses with paintings, people moving around and doing things like collages and building sandcastles. That sounds good -let’s see what it means.
Tell us about your future plans…
I wanna live in the countryside. Maybe on a Kibbutz. Maybe I wanna settle down with an artist hippie (if I meet one) OR i wanna -so bad- to go back to Austin and California, and definitely to visit New Mexico desert;;;;;alack;;; for now the city—tbh I wanna be in one place for a long-longtime, is there enough life left for that?
Last but not least: what is your favourite Song?
What does it mean to have a favorite? Why do we ask kids what their favorite animal is? On what basis are they meant to choose if they prefer a lion or a giraffe? It doesn’t make sense, but maybe a nice intuition exercise [why?] by no means my favorite but it’s nice ~
