“And to Love Life With a Broken Heart”

Video, 5.10 min., 2025

“To know, even in the heart of darkness, that the sun still exists; and to love life with a broken heart.” (Zelda)*

This work was created in a fractured and painful reality, following the events of October 7. Like life itself, it unfolds in constant motion—between darkness and light, rupture and growth, blurred vision and the effort to refocus.

The gaze shifts in all directions: at times alert and grasping at fleeting moments, at other times lingering in stillness. Even when everything seems frozen, subtle movements emerge—quiet signs of new life.

Turning to nature reflects a deep longing for stillness, for a space that might offer refuge from human pain. But nature, too, carries suffering. The ground here is burning. The illusion of peace shatters as wildfires consume entire forests. Like us, animals are forced to flee, losing their homes and the land beneath them.

The sounds of war—fighter jets slicing through the sky—pierce the pastoral landscape, breaking its calm and exposing the devastation we humans have created and now inhabit.

Amid this chaos, I try to focus on the places where nature continues to endure despite everything. I hold on to moments of hope, search for beauty, and try to recognize light even within the wounded and aching reality of our lives.

*Zelda. Le'ehov et ha-Ḥayyim be-Lev Nishbar [To Love Life with a Broken Heart]. Jerusalem: Zelda and Her Work Association, 2024. https://amutatzelda.co.il/. (Hebrew).