Tamar Lavon Sacks: The Spirit, The Sun, and Me (Toyo Shibata) / Tova Osman Gallery Tamar Lavon Sacks has been drawing since a young age, in her youth she experimented with sculpting. Approximately seven years ago, she began painting tirelessly, embracing it as her true calling. Her works focus on detailed portraiture, skilfully playing with light and shadow to create an engaging experience for the viewers. Additionally, she occasionally creates still-life paintings.

Lavon Sacks' paintings stem from a process of observing models and photographs. She seeks to capture moments, thoughts, people, eye glances, and souls. She empathetically observes people, using snapshots and articles from newspapers and magazines as inspiration rather than specific figures. "I focus on painting portraits. Characters emerge from observing the world around me, watching people, and looking at photos both local and international."

"In German, 'Dasein' means 'being there,' existing within the world ('in der Welt sein'). German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, used this term to denote the human's fundamental existence within the entity (within the 'being' of the world): from the outset, humans are subjectively engaged within the world."[1]  

Curator Tova Osman: "The works take me inside." Such a statement serves as Lavon Sacks motivation to step into the studio and create, intending to connect with those who engage with her art.
The gaze is ever-present in all of Tamar Lavon Sacks' works. She focuses on the eyes and facial expressions of the figures, revealing and peeling away layers of the soul while constructing layers in color as her medium. The gaze is mutual—both of the observer and those being observed—beyond mere aesthetic impressions from the artwork. The figures are frontal or presented slightly in profile. According to the artist, "As if encountering a moment from life."

The background often forms the initial stage of her work. Sometimes, the background becomes an integral part of the artwork itself. Lavon Sacks notes that she begins with the background, and over time the figure gradually emerges. The background can be smooth brush strokes or richly textured and laden with substance.

Color is an essential element in her paintings She arranges colors in varying shades and textures. Some of the faces she paints form a tactile and dense structure, whereas the torso remains smooth and open. Lavon Sacks uses both a brush and a putty knife. Combining oil with charcoal allows her to express a diverse range of textures and colors.

Her works include "alla prima"[2] paintings, completed in a single sitting, as well as works that exhibit a distinct continuous process in the studio. Lavon Sacks mentions that she simultaneously works on several pieces. Her approach to tackling challenges involves allowing her artwork to rest, gaining perspective, and then immersing entirely in another work. At a certain point, she transitioned to painting still life, taking a break from her portrait paintings that constitute the core of her artistic expression. Her work is both process-oriented as well as an introspective reflection of her professional identity as a painter. Working intuitively, she adds layers and dimensions to her artwork.   

Ruth Lorand, in her book "On the Nature of Art," presents four central and traditional approaches regarding the essence of art. Two of these are fundamental in Tamar Lavon Sacks' artwork (Ziva Koort): the first is the 'emotive approach,' which "attributes to art the quality of expressing emotions or evoking emotions as its central feature," and the second is 'art as the creator of beauty,' which "views the essence of art as creating beauty that generates and distinguishes between this created beauty and beauty in nature. A central representative of this position is the German philosopher Immanuel Kant."[3] 

Ziva Koort

Tamar Lavon Sacks  Born in 1963. She has been creating art from a young age. She graduated from Thelma Yellin School, majoring in plastic arts. In the past, she worked as a professional make-up artist in the film and television industry and as an interior designer.
Currently, she paints in her private studio. For the past two years, she has been studying at the figurative painting school 'The Station' of David Nipo and Aram Gershoni. She is a member of the Givatayim-Ramat Gan Painters and Sculptors Union and the Petach Tikva Artists Association.

Exhibitions "The Spirit, The Sun, and Me," first solo exhibition, Tova Osman Gallery, Tel Aviv. Participated in a group exhibition at the  Gallery On the Lake", Ra'anana. Participated in a group exhibition at the Blue Bird Gallery, Petach Tikva.