Meet Matilda

Matilda Katz is a fine artist living in Haifa district, Israel with her husband and a cat familiar. She works exclusively in graphite to create the series Witch & Familiar. Her work draws on magical archetypes and regional myths to create a personal body of work with roots in her home and ancestral area of the near ancient east and stretching out into the imaginal.

The visual language of her work brings to the front fluid states of consciousness through ‘clouds’ of graphite and soft edges that allow a porous distinction between areas and domains. The lack of color in her work leaves the description of the world to mystery. Rather than using abundant visual information in the form of color that would map out the world more specifically, the use of black and white tonal delineation invites a subjective interpretation from the viewer.

Matilda uses graphite as paint to create forms. The technique used in her work is a slow laying of thin cross hatched layers of graphite to establish value. It is a slow and meditative process that resonates with the territory and nature of her characters.

To create her dreamscapes of the kinship of human and animal Matilda draws on diverse art historical references, from ancient rock art, through medieval religious art, to the exuberant world of the Pre-Raphaelites.