Fitting In

2022 New York

As an expatriate from Israel, Nizan found herself observing a new city and herself within it. The “jungle” that is New York City was an extreme change from the small village community where Shani grew up in.

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In her choice to use simple Bic pens and high-quality paper, as well as thin and aggressive pen strokes, she symbolizes an initial reflection of city life extremes: wealth and poverty, beauty and ugliness, order and chaos going together side by side and creating the art piece that is New York. The un-proportional creatures placed in everyday New York City scenes are suggestive of the inevitable need to adapt to a new social environment. This way, the viewer can feel that they are either observing the city from a high point of view or trying to find their place in it.
As she mentioned in her statement, Shani always keeps a childish innocent atmosphere as the frame of the content in her artwork. Originally, this exhibition was called “Wishful Thinking” to create a visual fantasy that is typical to a child, where the artist is wishing her creatures to get big in their new home, New York.