Carole Berman

Holy Fire of Art

This book is a visual memoir of the artist's inner life and work and an unfolding of consciousness from early childhood to the present. It is a record of her life experiences and significant dreams translated into paintings, drawings and sculpture. In her twenties Jungian psychoanalysis provided her with a useful tool for interpretation as did her interest in Alchemy. The work draws on many of her dreams written in sketchbooks and notebooks that she has kept over many years. She attempts to trace the journey that the dreams have taken her which on occasions have led the artist to a profound source of inspiration, notably mystical texts, such as the Bible, the Talmud and the Zohar, as well as mystical Hebrew and Sufi poetry. These texts not only provided the warp and weft of many of the paintings but also provided plentiful spiritual nourishment. These sources were brought to life while living in Jerusalem for four years in the mid-nineties. She had a beautiful view from her studio overlooking olive trees and the Old City walls. She imagined the ancient biblical characters still inhabiting the landscape and that she could see Hebrew letters clearly written in the landscape, in the crevices, rocks and boulders - ancient history of a land still throbbing with life.