Artist in conversation: Valeria Ganzman

Valeria Ganzman is an artist who currently lives and works in Haifa, Israel.

In her work she focuses mainly on figurative painting and botanical illustration.

Valeria’s work was featured in “women and old age”, ‬a‭ ‬book by the art historian, curator and academic Tal Dekel.

 Valeria Ganzman was born in 1990 ‬in Babruysk, Belarus. In the year of 1996 she immigrated to Israel with her family and lived there ever since. 

During the years of 2013-2016 Valeria studied at the WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education in the photography and new media department. During this time she mainly photographed herself and her grandmother, exploring their bodies. The woman's body, femininity and sexuality occupied her a lot and she tried to document it in its true form - bare and vulnerable.

Valeria deals with the female body from various perspectives; the wear & tear and its sickness as well as sexuality, mortality and self-exploration. 

Follow Valeria’s work here.

Valeria Ganzman

Hello Valeria, many thanks for taking the time to chat with us!

- Your work seems to be focusing both in figurative and botanical illustration. They seem to be completely different subjects, where do they merge and how come and have you developed an interest in both?

Thank you so much for your interest in my work.

During my bachelors I mainly focussed on exploring my and my grandma’s bodies via photography. It was at this time that the woman's body, femininity and sexuality began to occupy my interests and I tried to document it in its true form - exposed and vulnerable.

One of my greatest inspirations to create is my grandmother. She used to be an actress and a dancer with this amazing free spirit. She felt very comfortable and free with her body. The body became the main focus for me once I started to photograph her, and ever since I keep exploring this subject. 

In 2017 I got diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite the immense fear I was in, this disease aroused my curiosity. There is something very beautiful and intriguing in sickness for me.

But after I recovered, it was really hard for me to work with the body as a subject because it brought a lot of difficult memories, so I was drawn to botanical painting. I think it's because I remembered that my grandmother brought me some plants for my porch at this time and I would sit there, watching and researching them. I was too weak to draw them but I imagined what I could create with their inspiration once I recovered. Since my love for botanical painting has only grown.

- Have you been formally trained in illustration?

No. As far as I can remember, I always painted, but I was never taught how. I just taught myself.

- You are originally coming from Belarus but you have lived the majority of your life in Israel. There must be many differences between the two places culturally. How would you say the two places have shaped your work?

Yes, these are two very different cultures, but I don’t feel like any one of them shaped me as an artist. I think the subjects I chose transcend culture.

- There’s an absurd sense of beauty in your feminine figurative work. How did you shape that distinctive look and what is the message you are looking to convey?

I depicted the body like this, in this broken and decomposing state, because I feel that despite the general conception that a body like that is something to hide and to be ashamed of, in actuality it can still be beautiful.

- There’s a strong and bold message coming across with your decomposing bodies figurative work. What does the body represent to you?

I feel that my work is not a monolog to the world, instead it’s a dialog with myself. I explore the body, the sick body, because it’s my way to cope with my own past trauma and present fear. By talking about it, I’m taking its power away. It becomes such a mundane part of my life instead of this scary topic that no one wants to talk about. It’s not scary anymore.