Miriam Mass is a Jerusalem artist who has been creating for more than 30 years. She embarked on her artistic career with creative/free embroidery, and studied at Tel Hai College and later at Windsor in England, where her teachers helped her elevate her embroidery from craft to art. Miriam embroidered with anything that would fit into the eye of the needle, “drawing” with thread and textile. Over the past decade, Miriam stopped embroidering and began creating art using a blended technique that incorporates a range of materials. Following a 3-month solo trip to the Himalayas, her perceptions of life and materials changed significantly. She began creating with elements that enhance airflow, enabling the pieces’ true colors to be exposed. She developed a unique language based on netting, upon which she artistically places layers of colorful fibers. Miriam creates remarkably sensuous original artwork. Based on each original piece, a numbered series of art prints are also produced – on paper, canvas, aluminum, or plexiglass. These high-quality prints are available on fine art canvas (with or without lacquer), Arches paper, chromaluxe (matt or gloss), or 3mm plexiglass. Miriam works closely with interior designers, architects, and private buyers. Miriam is a 7th-generation Jerusalemite and 3rd-generation artist, with an inspirational and fascinating life story. She resides and creates in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem. The artist’s choice to use netting is a meaningful statement, with this transparent platform enabling light and shadows to seep through, conveying a feeling of open-closed-open. Miriam believes that art should leave openings within us, in order to accept new insights, achieve new perspectives, and relinquish the past. It is this transparency, airflow, and openness that bestow upon the artist an invitation to create.
Miriam Mass takes the observers on a magnificent personal journey, where she opens a window into her soul and shares her experiences with them.
To understand the code of her artwork, one must understand how she applies the term “fibers” that she implements in her artwork.
For the artist, these fibers are used to create a new fabric that encompasses paper, thread, and others, glued to the netting in multiple layers, resulting in a 3-dimensional piece of art.
About 2 years ago, Miriam encountered a new type of fiber during her travels to Laos and Thailand, the trunk of the Kozo tree. She brought this to Israel and began integrating it into her artwork – adding a novel, unique, and sophisticated dimension to her art.
Her pieces project a wealth of joy and color into their surroundings.
Miriam’s creations and chosen materials also convey a “Midrash,” a homiletic interpretation of the Jewish scripture.
She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Israel and around the world.
Her art is inspired by nature in all its glory. She inhales and internalizes the landscapes that she encounters during her travels, and then translates her internal and religious experiences into artistic creations.
In fact, Miriam incorporates the landscapes of the soul in all of her work.
A few years ago, Miriam invited metalwork artist Yitzchak Freeman to cooperate with her in creating a synergy between hard metal and soft textiles. This resulted in an amazing international exhibition of colorful pomegranates combined with 24-carat gold leaves.
