Hillel Zhenwirth

About Hillel Zhenwirth

I am an artist based in Tel Aviv, Israel. I studied art at the Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Canada. I follow the belief that art must be personal and therefore, I am inspired by my own life experiences as a father, partner, as well as a fine art and martial artist. By weaving together my two worlds into my paintings, I express moments of my emotional and practical daily life. In both practices of fine art and martial art, the warrior/painter practices alone in repetitive modes while fighting with potential inner and physical threats.

I live my everyday life as a family man at the same time as adapting a ‘fight’ life attitude that reflects in my fatherhood paintings. Another aspect of this intersecting practice leads me to engage with my fears- the fear of hurting and of being hurt. The greatest fear of the martial art warrior is not so much the fear of death, but the fear of losing one’s physical abilities such as losing a limb or brain damage. Visualizing those fears in painting, I create graphic images of myself and those people close to me.

Employing an idiosyncratic style that has taken me a lifetime to hone, I use the human form as one would use Play-Doh’. With these images, I manifest the human experience through my own eyes and its effect on me. The faces express the full range of human emotion as experienced by me at any given time. My art is constantly changing and evolving. If you like my art, reach out to me and get in touch and see my evolution...

Hillel Zhenwirth