Tale

Tale looks into the uncertain boundary between seeing and imagining, where images surface slowly from dense fields of interwoven forms. Built through repetitive acts of rubbing, layering and accumulation, the works unfold gradually, allowing figures, fragments and fleeting relationships to emerge through prolonged looking.

The series develops from Israel’s use of the Victorian technique of brass rubbing combined with a large collection of embossed objects gathered over many years. Working intuitively and by touch, Israel builds these shifting image structures through repeated acts of rubbing and accumulation. Some of the works are made on tracing paper painted black on the reverse, preventing direct sight of the image as it forms and shifting the process toward touch and uncertain perception.

The series draws partly from experiences of nocturnal hallucination, in which perception becomes fluid and uncertain and images appear in states of constant transformation. Rather than attempting to depict these experiences directly, the works recreate something of their unstable perceptual atmosphere, where forms seem to arise through the act of looking itself, hovering at the threshold of visibility.

Tale, 42 x 34cm, 2025. Graphite on tracing paper.

Tale, 42 x 34cm, 2025. Graphite on tracing paper.

Tale, 51 x 38cm, 2025. Graphite and acrylic paint on tracing paper.

© Jo Israel 2026