About
Maya Naftolin (b. 1997) is a Canadian-Israeli artist based in Tel Aviv.
She was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and moved to Israel when she was 17 years-old. Her personal journey of acclimating to a new country and “becoming” Israeli are central in her work.
In the past, Naftolin’s central practice was analog and digital photography. She has an extensive personal archive of digital, black-and-white film and instant photography. This archive is a significant point of reference for Naftolin in her creative practice.
However, it is the landscape of her native province Ontario, where Naftolin spent her childhood, which serves as both her subject matter and “artistic playground.” In her interpretation of the Ontarian landscape, Naftolin explores longing, memory, time, language and identity as a dual citizen of two completely different countries.
Naftolin is passionate about education and making it accessible to everyone. As a native English speaker with first-hand experience of becoming bilingual, Naftolin has experience teaching both group and private English conversation classes. Currently, she works as a doseat at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, where she gives tours of the museum’s current exhibitions and leads art workshops.
Education
2018-2022: Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A) in Multidisciplinary Art at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, Israel
Exhibitions
2024: The Pot is Boiling, Bezalel Art Gallery (group)
Jerusalem, Israel
2022: Shenkar College Multidisciplinary Art Graduate Exhibition (group)
Ramat Gan, Israel
2021: Remote Viewing, Shenkar College Digital Art Exhibition (group)
Link to exhibition: http://2020.shenkar.art/rv
Artist Statement
Maya Naftolin is a Canadian-Israeli mixed media artist and photographer whose works contemplate the complexities of a multicultural identity. The ambiguity and sense of estrangement that derive from a multicultural identity are core themes in her work. Naftolin creates otherworldly spaces which cannot be associated with one particular place; rather they become something unrecognisable yet uncannily familiar.
Fascinated by Canada’s sublime nature, Naftolin uses her personal photographic archive as a point of reference in her ink paintings. In her photographs, she uses her archival images from Canada and Israel, creating a new blended world of the two she comes from.
Maya Naftolin is a Canadian-Israeli mixed media artist and photographer whose works contemplate the complexities of a multicultural identity. The ambiguity and sense of estrangement that derive from a multicultural identity are core themes in her work. Naftolin creates otherworldly spaces which cannot be associated with one particular place; rather they become something unrecognisable yet uncannily familiar.
Fascinated by Canada’s sublime nature, Naftolin uses her personal photographic archive as a point of reference in her ink paintings. In her photographs, she uses her archival images from Canada and Israel, creating a new blended world of the two she comes from.
Fascinated by Canada’s sublime nature, Naftolin uses her personal photographic archive as a point of reference in her ink paintings. In her photographs, she uses her archival images from Canada and Israel, creating a new blended world of the two she comes from.
Landscapes
Haunted Forest, 2021-2, ink, oil pastel, chalk pastel, and graphite on etching paper, 125x211 cm
Tree Grove, 2022, ink and oil pastel on etching paper, 64x76 cm
Purple Lake Island, 2022, ink on etching paper, 84x124 cm
Rainbow Forest, 2022, ink and oil pastel on etching paper, 88x124 cm
Lone Inuit and Tundra, 2021, ink, oil pastel, and pencil on etching paper, 41x61 cm
Tundra, 2021, ink, oil pastel, black pencil and graphite on etching paper, 40x60 cm
Mountain Range, 2021, ink, oil pastel, and coloured pencil on etching paper, 39x60 cm
Rugged Mountain Peaks, 2021, ink and oil pastel on etching paper, 39x60 cm
Among The Trees
Among The Trees was Naftolin’s culminating exhibition of her B.FA in Multidisciplinary Art. The works in Among The Trees document her journey and ever changing identity as an immigrant to Israel. Naftolin employed imagery of her native Ontario and in the spirit of German Romanticism. Her paintings bridge her lives in Canada and Israel by emphasising their cultural and geographical differences.
Installation view. Photographer: Anat Finklestein Daniel
Floating Island, 2022, ink, oil pastel, chalk pastel, black pencil, and graphite on etching paper, 123x130 cm
Canoe on a Lake, 2022, ink, oil pastel, and conté on etching paper, 40x60 cm
Lakescape, 2022, black ink on etching paper, 40x60 cm
Installation view. Photographer: Anat Finklestein Daniel
Rentgen Forest, 2021, ink, oil pastel, black pencil, and graphite on etching paper, 40x61 cm
Lurking Figure, 2022, ink, oil pastel, and graphite on etching paper, 40x60 cm
Lone House on a Lake, 2021, ink, oil pastel, and coloured pencil on etching paper, 40x60 cm
Skeletal Forest, 2021, ink, oil pastel, and white pencil on etching paper, 40x 61 cm
Installation view. Photographer: Anat Finklestein Daniel
Peeling Birch Trees, 2022, graphite on etching paper, 60x80 cm
Volcanic Forest, 2022, ink, oil pastel, conté, and black pencil on etching paper, 60x80 cm
Installation view. Photographer: Anat Finklestein Daniel
Merged Worlds
Merged Worlds was created in 2021. Each image is comprised of two photographs; one taken in Israel, and one taken in Canada.
Naftolin’s objective was to create a new realm in which her worlds collide. The images are intentionally titillating and otherworldly in order to evoke a dizzying sensation similar to that of nostalgia. Naftolin used scanned film photographs in some of the images, and edited further in Photoshop to create optical stimulation and confusion.
