King David seated figure with harp

Description

Israeli art : King David seated figure with harp

I was delighted to be asked if I could make a sculpture of King David. This would be a contemporary Israeli art piece of a truly ancient and classical subject. The figure had to be both powerful and lyrical, both qualities associated with the Biblical David. I turned to ancient Mediterranean art as a source. My ceramic sculpture was therefore inspired by the beauty of Cycladic sculptures (origin: the island of Cyclades), also depicting seated harp-players.

Only a few of these sculptures are known about today, varying in size and detail, but all similar in composition and style. They were made from marble at around 2700BCE, and were mostly found in burial sites in the Aegean. I find Cycladic art compelling because of its ancientness, although it actually dates from about 1700 years before King David. Its very minimalist, pared-down and geometric style also makes it very relevant for me. Faces, too, are represented in Cycladic art in an almost abstract style. My own way of working with ceramics tends towards a similar geometry of form. This King David sculpture, I hope, successfully references these elegant works from antiquity.

You can see more of my ceramic Israeli art on my ceramics page.