FROM YOUR TRAVELS
Soul
Four artisans, four countries and one vision – heartfelt authenticity. Whether we call them craftsmen and women, artisans, or simply makers, there is a special place in every traveller's heart for those who create the objets d'art found in destinations worldwide. These works earn a place in our homes and, with a passing glance, they bring back fond memories from the trips during which they were bought. Each creation from these makers reflects not only the unique vision of the artisan, but also the essence of the place in which the artwork came to life. BY BOB COOPER
© www.jojo-art.com
ART &
YOSEF “JOJO” OHAYON | DEAD SEA, ISRAEL The ethereal Dead Sea is a constant inspiration for artisan Yosef “Jojo” Ohayon and his wife, Deganit, a professional potter. Ohayon was born into a family of artists in Casablanca. After they moved to Israel, he resisted going into the family business, choosing instead to grow melons and peppers and design agricultural equipment. But art was in his blood. When he accidentally disfigured a metal piece of farm equipment, he couldn’t help but notice its odd beauty. Soon he started making metal chairs similarly contorted. And so he followed in his parents’ footsteps after all. Ohayon’s pieces range from chairs and vases to mosaic sculptures and paintings. His methods are as unorthodox as his art objects are colourful and whimsical. Drawing on his familiarity with farm machinery, he uses water pressure from electric pumps and fire hoses to shape metal objects, and bottles to disperse colours when he paints his abstracts. While the best place to see Ohayon’s work is in his Dead Sea showroom or the Tel Aviv Gallery, it can be found in galleries around the world – from Europe and New York City to China and Australia.
© www.rafaruizfoto.com
FERNANDO ALFARO | SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA, CHILE
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Chilean National Handicraft Award-winning ceramicist Fernando Alfaro is on a mission. He wants to preserve the 11,000-year-old artistic heritage of Chile’s indigenous peoples, especially the Lickan Antay or Atacameños, who live in northern Chile and Argentina. The former art professor does this by creating masks, Pachamama and shamanic figures and pre-Columbian musical instrument replicas in his studio, Lickan Antay Ceramics. They convey to visitors the history of Chile’s indigenous peoples and teaching ancient clay modelling workshops. The 2.5-hour workshops are attended by hundreds each year, as San Pedro de Atacama is the home base for most international visitors to the Atacama Desert, one of Chile’s three most popular tourism regions. “The mission I had as a professor was to teach the art of the pre-Columbian peoples,” says Alfaro. Opening his studio 18 years ago let him continue that work, though his students are now foreign visitors. Alfaro’s workshop participants, especially if they also visit the Le Paige Archaeological Museum in town, leave with a new appreciation of Atacameños art and culture – and a memento of their visit in the form of a llama or jaguar clay miniature they made themselves.
