Sivan Sternbach’s playful balloon sculptures are reminiscent of childhood memories and intended as talismans of such times past. Command of the medium of clay comes naturally to the artist, the result of her earlier career as a pastry chef. In both pastry and clay, particularly in Sternbach’s hands, there is a striking relationship between medium and effect, a lightness evoked through the careful working, and in many ways defiance, of dense media. Sternbach’s corpus of balloon sculptures offer a viewing experience both disorientating and delightfully provocative.
Propelled by striking social media success, Sternbach’s balloons have become a widespread sensation. Adorning spaces as distinct as the windows of flagship department store Bergdorf Goodman, New York, as well as the galleries of the Israel Museum in the artist’s native Israel, Sternbach’s balloons are an undisputed emblem of our contemporary time. Sternbach lives and works in Tel Aviv.
