LOOKING FOR A GRADUATION PRESENT?

Israeli artist inspired by Dead Sea Scroll vessels

BY: JENNIFER DADDARIO Staff Reporter [Cleveland Jewish News]

It was a normal visit to The Israel Museum in Jerusalem to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, but it changed artist Avital Sheffer’s life.

After Sheffer, 53, took a closer look at the vessels that held the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Sabra altered her career. Within a week, she was enrolled in a ceramics class, and soon after, she began making her own ceramic vessels.

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The artist, who now lives in Australia, creates large, non-functional ceramic vessels inspired by ancient and Middle Eastern glassware and metalware. All are adorned with Hebrew text. “They are contemporary expressions of my interpretation of ancient classical forms,” Sheffer explains in a phone interview from Israel. The vessels are about 3 feet tall and range from $3,200 to $3,900.

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Sheffer spends a great deal of time doing research and seeking out ancient manuscripts to re-create on her vessels. To find the ancient documents n anything from love letters to passages from the Bible or prayer books n Sheffer visits museums and libraries all over the world. “Because the Hebrew language is considered sacred, all manuscripts were preserved, even simple letters and documents,” she explains.

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