Artist talk with Regev Pardo
,HOLE', 2021
Oil, sewing threads and deconstructed canvas
65X88cm
Tell us about yourself.
I’m Regev Haim Pardo, I’m a visual artist who is currently based in Tel Aviv. I was born and raised in Dimona, Israel and since leaving my hometown four years ago, I’ve considered my work as a self sustained archeological act that examines traumas, spaces and physical and emotional sensations, mainly by the impulses of the current moment.
Where did your passion for art begin?
I was always attracted to art. As a child, I used to play violin and draw a lot. Honestly, I would say I wasn't the best violinist, but classical music played a massive role in my childhood. I can't point to a specific moment when I discovered my passion. I think it's more of a mindset, a perspective I’ve always had on things.
How would you describe your work to someone?
I like to think of my work as a shield against the overburdening forces of life. An opportunity to create balance through a focusing-in on the most simple and naive movements of things. That for me represents absolute honesty.
'BODY LAYOUT', 2021
Oil, sewing threads and deconstructed canvas
57X40cm
What are you currently working on?
I just finished working on some paintings which I will exhibit in a group show that will open this July in Tel Aviv. The series is an attempt to work on a very small scale. A thing that led me to many realisations, mainly about the resilience of the surfaces I work on, the way I put it to the test and the way I discover my motifs. all the motifs are outcome of circumstances and in some ways coincidentals. They represent limitless shapes and different types of vanishing points that can be
treated as a beginning or an end, and as a glimpse to a hidden section in space. Working small allowed me to compress and decompress layers more freely, and create transparent and welcoming entrance paths which allow the observer to sink through the inner atmosphere and textures.
When you start a new work or project, do you plan what you’re going to create or do you improvise?
If I have to choose between the two, I would say that I approach art spontaneously. With that said, the process of creation unearths such absurdity in relation to the world that inspires me, that I'm never confident that anything I create is as spontaneous as I think. I choose to not mislead myself with references and preparations upon working, and I aim to give up control and emphasise my reflexes. In painting, I notice my tendency to always come back to the very initial stage, like a circular motion. Imagine someone rolling an extremely long carpet down a hill. At first he can see the whole image of the carpet spread out towards the plain, but as soon as he begins rolling it down, condensing it into a singular pillar, the carpet starts collecting ripps, earth and dust. He then cuts the folded carpet straight in the middle in a way that reveals a historical layout of all the layers that have been accumulated, from first to last. Cutting the carpet can be seen as an unnecessary act, mainly because the carpet as a whole serves a purpose and can be seen clearly from the top of the hill. However, something in this new condition of the carpet, of such a large process being compressed to one tiny intersection between space and time, revokes the presence of the carpet as a body. The affection of time and the wear and tear that have been achieved along the way are the only things left, and they are the essence. I treat painting exactly as this act of folding and cutting, act that isn’t crucial to life, but a form to understand its patterns.
'Untitled', 2021
Oil, sewing threads and deconstructed canvas
45x51cm
Can you highlight some of your influences and discuss how your influences have made an impact on you and your practice?
I am mainly influenced by writing and reading. When I create things, I tend to completely combine my texts and artworks. I found that the way I come to painting is the same way I construct my writings, so I use each one as a tool to better understand and reflect on the other. Many times I even see the text’s visual structure being affected by my paintings.
I read a lot of different stuff, but my favorites are Georges Perec and Michel Foucault, mainly because of their approach to spaces that I find so beautiful and poetic, they really affected the way I observe my surroundings.
What are your plans for the remainder of this year?
At the end of July I'm about to move to New York to start my BFA in The Cooper Union.