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.
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.