Hava Mehutan, sculptor, remembers from the distance of her age, stories and events from her early childhood and adolescence, that had a significant effect on her life as an artist.
From an early age she realized

she is different from people surrounding her, she saw colors and shapes from a different angle than her peers and family. Light falling on a broken piece of glass, splitting in the colors as a rainbow, the fascination with the changing of seasons, the interest in  artifacts from early cultures displayed at Philadelphia Art Museum that she carefully studied during a school visit, all were her materials and images of inspiration that later formed her artistic world.

As she realized she was different, she kept it as a secret during the years. Now, in the perspective of her long and fruitful career, she recalls these memories, but as she herself states she does not write in words but she expresses herself through her artworks.
In the presented exhibition,  Hava Mehutan brings a series of sculptures, paintings and installations, each telling a story from her early years growing in Philadelphia.
Hava Mehutan was born in Philadelphia in 1925. She grew in a Jewish family with little understanding of the meaning of her Jewish identity. During the Second World War she was saddened to hear and read about the hardship of the Jewish people in Europe, and frustrated that she could not help. By chance, she met her future husband who spoke about the traditional homeland of the Jewish people. She became convinced that this was a solution to the problem of the Jews in Europe. She was determined to leave for Palestine to help settle them there. In late December of 1945, at the end of the war, she and her husband left the USA and came to Israel. She has lived in the Negev, in Jerusalem, and in the Galilee. At present Hava Mehutan resides and works in Karmiel.
Mehutan has presented numerous Solo exhibits; participated in many Group exhibitions, and received prestigious awards among them America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Eighth Biennale, San Paulo, Brazil, Dizengoff award and more. Many of her works can be found in Museums and private collections in Israel, the US and other countries.
The art and culture absorbed in her early years, together with the new environment of the desert and the excitement of the new beginnings, were the foundation of her artistic creations.
As Hava Mehutan stated in an early catalog:

"As a child I always found a corner to be by myself, to make pictures and small 3D figures. Always images, never words" (Hava Mehutan, Hakibbutz HaMeuchad Publishing House, 1978, page 7).
Now she presents childhood scenes not in words but in art works.  
The exhibition at Tal Gallery will present the latest works that Hava Mehutan created during the last year, as part of the project of her life reminiscences. Each work to be displayed in the exhibition, connects to an event or story from her early years growing-up in Philadelphia. and reveals some of the events that brought her to Israel.
Through the eyes of Hava, as the little girl and youngster, we have an opportunity to discover and better understand, the life and events of the American born settlers in Israel, just before the foundation of the State of Israel and in particular that of a woman artist,