In Running Line, on view at FORMah gallery, objects stripped of function take on new roles: charged, amorphous, and poetic. Israeli artist Noga Yudkovik-Etzioni creates a space where memory, material, and form converge through elongated installations on the floor and a series of small wall-mounted paper-based reliefs
In Backyard, Yudkovik Etzioni transforms cardboard, paper, vinyl records, wood, and lime paint into a dense memory capsule, conjuring her childhood experiences in a Kibutz where she grew up, spending many hours playing outdoors. The pieces resemble wooden toy blocks— circles and cylinders resembling wheels, bridges, and an occasional discarded bottle. It feels as if a group of children had been playing here and suddenly left, leaving behind traces of their activities—carrying into the space a memory of objects from a past that is distant but also urgently present. There is no nostalgia here. Objects are broken, folded, fragmented, and rebuilt; scale is altered, making the familiar appear wondrous. Made from fragile, perishable materials, these “immigrant objects,” as the artist calls them, suggest impermanence and portability, evoking the act of packing, moving, and rebuilding: loss and possible renewal.
Yudkovik Etzioni starts her process as a formalist in the basic sense of abstracting familiar shapes and deconstructing them from their function. She likens her process to everyday domestic activities: packing, dismantling, storing, and organizing. Her materials—mainly cardboard and paper—become “skins,” surfaces that obscure their origins. These surfaces strip the objects of their original function while retaining an echo of their former presence.
Narrative hints from the artist’s biography evolve organically from the exquisitely crafted shapes, anchoring much of the imagery. Swim fins reference her time as a swimmer. Knitting spools evoke her mother, a kibbutz knitter. Bicycle seats and firecrackers, altered in scale and form. These objects, distorted and rendered partially abstract, carry a sense of playfulness, of hide and seek. Yudkovik Etzioni describes them as “private jokes”—gestures that hint at meaning without fully disclosing it.
Waves, the other main floor installation, juxtaposes the dense, voluminous density of the backyard with its elegant linearity. Placed on the ground by the large front window, this installation echoes the rhythm of the sea. Its whimsical staccato evokes rhythmic waves, a sea horizon on a sunny day—sparkled by bright yellow ready-made tapes and hair rollers.
Along the walls, in her series of small paper-based reliefs, Yudkovik Etzopmo cuts, tears, stamps, and paints to create layered structures that envelope empty spaces at their core—air pockets. These worlds suggest abstracted anatomical shapes, and you can practically sense the air inhaled in and exhaled out of their holes. The surfaces, in lush blacks or aethereal whites, are treated to resemble other materials such as metal, delighting us with the surprising possibilities of humble materials.
Noga Yudkovik-Etzioni, Air Pocket (7), Mixed Media on Paper, 7 x 8.25 x 1.5 in, photo courtesy of the writer.
With Running Line, Yudkovik Etzioni explores the fluidity of objects and memory while teasing the lines between formalism and narrative. With ample humor, subtle gravitas, and an impressive arsenal of formalist tools, she transforms the gallery space into an inner landscape where time and objects are not what they appear to be.
All photos courtesy of Yigal Pardo unless otherwise indicated.
The exhibition is on view at FORMah Gallery until December 21, 2024.