YWP 31, 2024

Yael Wolf Portugheis  

Yael (born - 1951) grew up in the city of Ness Ziona. As the age of 9, she discovered the art of mosaic and began collecting stones of different colors and attaching them to pictures. Throughout her life she painted, embroidered, and weaved, using materials originated in the nature she was dwelling in.

Over the years she acquired skills and knowledge in a various fields of art: graphics, embroidery, silversmithing, design, wood carving and painting as well as in history of art.

she attended a continuation program at the Mosaic Art School in Ravenna, Italy, where she learned the ancient technique of mosaic. She was a member of the International Association of Contemporary Mosaicists, exhibited and participated in conferences worldwide in Italy, Scotland, Brazil, USA, England and more.

Inspired by the Spanish architect Gaudi from Barcelona, she was among the first in Israel to create a contemporary, sustainable mosaic. Her art Integrates Judaica as well as Israeli culture. Her works stand against the temporality and extravagance of contemporary society, and call to preserve the past for the future.

Most of her works were carried out in cooperation with the community and mainly with the younger generation: students from educational institutions and with people with special needs.

Yael`s art covers public buildings and educational institutions throughout the country and decorates houses of art collectors in Israel and around the world.

Yael dwells in the various fields of plastic art, combining textile craft and oil painting. Her affinity for nature, raw materials and creativity runs through the thread in her art. Her admiration of the seasons, the intensity of nature, and the colors of the blossoms are prominent in all her works. In her textile and jewelry creations, Yael uses raw materials and combines techniques of embroidery, knitting, dyeing in natural colors, ecological printing and weaving beads and ornaments that are all organic. In these works, as well as in others, the artist incorporates her social credo – using traditional techniques from all over the world and incorporating handicrafts by creative women from all walks of life.

Her works are currently exhibited in the Beit Habad Gallery in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and in the "Talking Walls" gallery in Rishon LeZion.