Flight of the Soul 2006

Israel Tsvaygenbaum made “Flight of the Soul” in oil paint, and it's buzzing with symbolism. The colours really sing, don’t they? Like a folk song, maybe? Look at the blue of the bird, how it pops against the orangey-yellows of the townscape. It’s thick, almost creamy. The way he’s layered those colours creates this dream-like vision, kind of like a memory. I imagine he mixed colours directly onto the canvas, building them up gradually. The figure with the horn has a dream-like quality, all swirly and flowing. It makes you wonder what’s going on in the artist’s head. Tsvaygenbaum reminds me a bit of Marc Chagall, with his dreamy, symbolic figures and use of color to convey emotion. But Tsvaygenbaum has his own unique voice. It’s a good reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, each artist building on what came before, but always adding something new. And like all good art, it leaves you with more questions than answers, right?