The Soma works voice an ongoing discourse with nature. The term, which in Greek means body and in Hebrew refers to blindness, emanates poetic bodies of light which have the appearance of immaterial foggy landscapes. Nature versus culture or nature during transformation is the overarching theme in Serfaty's work.
"That which is beautiful is not ephemeral, it incessantly keeps recurring" (Meira Yagid Haimovici, Curator in of Design and Architecture, the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art).
The Soma light sculptures are composed of layers in fine meshing of colorful/transparent 2mm wide glass filaments meticulously and thoroughly intertwined. The crystal-like form is then encased in a polymer web, creating a surface that resembles a brittle, fragile cocoon. Soma light sculptures display a universal dimension; they are representations of the essence of nature in its most abstract form, standing for frozen memories existing beyond time and space.
Below the making of Soma:
The design process begins with drawings and etchings.
Soma light sculptures are made using 2mm thick glass filaments. The glass is manufactured in Empoli, Italy, by glass artist Sergio Serra, in many colors and transparencies per Ayala Serfaty's requests.
The glass filaments are woven and entwined using lampworking technology. It is a very meticulous and time consuming process. Glass artists Eytan Hall and Anna Gautier are the masters of this work. Eytan and Anna work according to Ayala Serfaty's designs, while incorporating their own individual interpretations.
Various configurations of Soma are constructed over hand made ceramics. The ceramic base is made according to Ayala Serfaty's design, which is in tune with the ceramics artist's particular style and technique. The light source is from compact fluorescent bulbs.
When the glass structure is completed, it is encased in a polymer membrane-like web. The colors of glass filaments seep through the skin, as well as the inner depth of the piece.
The art statement:
'When I discovered Soma it was like coming back home. Soma is something I was looking for all my artistic life. It relates to work I was doing as a young student, using dust as a prime material. The discovery, like a present for my fortieth birthday, was a true revelation. Within the range of activities of our studio, Aqua Creations, Soma practice goes back to my origins as an artist. The research is free of end use or time limits; it is only committed to becoming authentic to its own nature.
As much as being my own self expression, Soma is a team work of artists:
* Albi Serfaty, my Soma mate, developed the clear-web technology and masters its application.
* Sergio Serra prepares the tinted glass sticks, in a traditional glass factory in Italy.
* Eytan Hall and Anna Gautier of Aqua Creations weave the glass and lamp work it to its unique, one of a kind structure.
* Marcelle Klein and Ronit Zor are independent artists which we've commissioned to create the ceramics.
* Aqua Creations Research & Development department is in charge of the structural and electrical aspects.
Soma's structure is composed of 'lamp-worked' layers of tinted transparent glass veins that create both depth and surface. A clear membrane-like skin is webbed over the glass structure. Both materials are extremely fragile. Their symbiotic relationship creates a strong spatial structure, merging the two materials into a new specificity. Soma illuminated objects explore the interaction created between the glass structure and the skin, and the relativity of coverage to visible depth.
The practice of Soma evolves from one piece to the next. Each of these pieces explores ways to transform calligraphy into texture and into structure. In each piece various particular relationships are created between the surface, light, and shade. The configurations show a more abstract authenticity of the Soma practice, a form created by free drawing in space, captured like a frozen moment of existence.'
- Ayala Serfaty, 2005
a+. ayala serfaty
a+. aqua creations
