Zemer Peled

Zemer Peled was born and raised in Kibbutz Yizre’el in the north of Israel. After completing her BA with Honors at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, she graduated with an MA with Honors from the Royal College of Art, London. She received the distinguished “Clore Foundation Award” for her studies at the RCA. Through her sculptural and installation work, Zemer explores a specific reading of nature. She creates forms that are nostalgic for and reminiscent of shattered, dense landscapes, both real and imagined. Her mutating, figure-like creatures are hybrid visions of land, physical matter, and her intuitive process-led approach to making. In recent years her works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world: London, Milan, Paris, Japan, Germany, Israel, U.S., among others. After living and creating in London for several years, she was recently selected as Artist in Residence at the prestigious Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana, where she lives and work today.

1) What or who inspired you to want to be an artist?
I have been surrounded by art all my life, and was always encouraged by my parents to find my artistic path. Through most of my childhood, I danced and believed it would be “my thing”, but I “retired” during my army service and started exploring other artistic paths. I applied to Bezalel Academy, and very quickly realized that this was what I wanted to do.

2) What was your creative journey that has brought you to where you are in your career today?
Throughout my career I have had fantastic tutors and colleagues who taught me. Generous people and organizations like the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Clore Foundation helped me financially. Without their support, continued encouragement, and belief in what I was doing, I couldn’t have gone on this amazing artistic journey. Those few individuals and organizations, whom I like to call my angels, have allowed me to stay focused on making and developing my artistic language. I’m truly thankful to them!

3) What do you need as an artist today?
I need a studio space and to be able to make my living out of art.

4) What creative project are you working on now?
I just came back from Tokyo where I showed my work at the Tokyo Design Week, representing Israel. There are three major projects that I’m working on at the moment. The first is a very exciting collaboration with my brother, cellist Amit Peled (an AICF alumnus as well). The second is a solo show/concert entitled Pablo and Me exploring the art and life of Pablo Casals with a concert performed with his historical cello and an exhibition of my work inspired by it. The project will be presented in Cape Cod this coming summer. Lastly, I’m working on a site-specific installation for another gallery in the U.S. and the annual summer exhibition at the Archie Bray.

5) Where do you see yourself and your career in 10 years?
Exhibiting my work for a wider audience, teaching and sharing art as a resource for growth, and settling down somewhere with my own studio.

6) What does it mean to you to be an Israeli artist?
Although my work has no political aspect in it, being an Israeli is who I am and a great source of pride. No matter where I am exhibiting in the world, I always feel that I am representing my country. Moreover, growing up in the beautiful Yizre’el Valley surrounded by the beauty of nature and the special people who live there constantly influences my art.

7) What does it mean to you to have an organization like AICF available in the art world?
Having an organization like AICF makes it possible for Israelis like myself to fulfill their dreams. Without such an amazing organization I wouldn’t have been able to keep developing and growing as an artist and as a human being. Like so many Israeli artists around the world, I feel blessed by the generosity of this special organization.Throughout my career I have had fantastic tutors and colleagues who taught me. Generous people, organizations like the AICF and the Clore Foundation, helped me financially. Without their financial support, continued encouragement and belief in what I was doing, I couldn’t have gone on this amazing artistic journey. Those few individuals and organizations, whom I like to call my angels, have allowed me to stay focused on making and developing my artistic language. I’m truly thankful to them!

Zemer Peled