My main method of painting is pulling threads from old bed-sheets and arranging them on the canvas between layers of colours. When the paint dries the threads are removed, leaving their traces as part of the image. This echoes the experience of the maternal body and subject in the sense that there is a body within a body for a duration of nine months, then one body comes out of the other. What traces are left in the maternal body and how maternal subjectivity is affected by these traces?  

In my studio I filmed myself performing with one of my painting (entitled: ‘A Bullet-proof vest or Tzi-tzit?’ 2016). More specifically, I removed the threads and placed them on my face; however, I positioned the camera in a way that it captured my body only; the face is cut-off by the frame. This creates an opportunity to observe the relationship between the body of the painting, my own maternal body and subjectivity. 

כן. זאת טכניקה שנבנת על טקס התאבלות יהודי של קריעת הבגד, אך גם על דברים אחרים. תודה על ההתעניינות, גלי. עכשיו אכתוב גם באנגלית.

The question here is about the technique of placing threads between layers of paint. I develop this technique based on the Jewish ritual of mourning which includes tearing one's clothes, as well as on other things.

From: FB exchange, 5.7.2016

חוטים שנפרמו מסדינים ישנים מונחים בין שכבות צבע. כשהצבע יבש החוטים מוסרים ומשאירים סימנים בחומר. מעין 'דיאלוג' בין קנווס (כל מה שהוא מסמל) והחוטים עם כל הדברים שהם מעלים

The question was about the use of threads. The answer was: 'threads which were pulled from old bed-sheets had been placed between layers of paint. When the paint dries the threads are pulled off the canvas, leaving traces in the material. It is a kind of 'dialogue' between canvas (and all that it symbolizes) and the threads, with all the associations that they provoke.'

From: FB exchange 4.7.2016

A bullet-proof vest or Tzitzit?, Oil on canvas, 2016

'Suddenly, standing there at the door, was a fair-haired soldier with a bag on his shoulder; one of those wandering British soldiers who were passing through more often these days, on the way from Jisr al-Majami camp to Haifa ...
"I've got something worth selling here" ...
"What is it?" ...
"This is a real protective jacket," the soldier said. "A bullet-proof vest, lightweight. It's got small plates inside reinforced with fiber-glass." ...
"It's really useful for a fighter," the soldier said. "Something special. My mother sent it to me from London," he went on. "As I said, it's something special. She was afraid I'd be killed and this was the only thing she could find to protect me. Apart from her prayers."
From: Yahya Yakhlif, A Lake Beyond the Wind

'שכפ"צ או ציצית? A bullet-proof vest or Tzitzit?

YNG work-in-progress 1

YNG work-in-progress 2

YNG work-in-progress 3

YNG, Skin's Gaze, Oil on Canvas, 30.5 x 40.6cm, 2016

                                       

  Car park where Samakh railway station used to be. Photos by YNG, 2008

From: http://www.palestineremembered.com/Tiberias/Samakh/index.html#Pictures