Loss, Sacrifice and Overcoming • Four significant moments in the past year of four soldiers through the works of four artists • Michael Cohen and artist Efrat de Botton
A cheerful soldier figure.
Efrat de Botton
Photo:
Joshua Joseph
"When I was told that Michael's story is about Bnei Brak, I thought that my work, like the stories, would be gray - about Corona's difficulties. But a moment after he started talking, I discovered so much joy and giving. I came out so optimistic," says Efrat de Botton, illustrator. , A paper designer and artist, who creates portraits in layers of paper.
While listening to Michael she shaped his character according to the events he experienced in the first wave of the Corona.
Michael Cohen, 20, a lone soldier from Boston, enlisted in a paratroop patrol less than a year ago.
We had the conversation with him while he was in the field, during a sniper course.
Between exercises, between shots, he told Efrat Bezom about the feelings, what he expected to meet in Bnei Brak, and what he actually discovered.
"At first I was really upset. All the information I got was that it was a place with a lot of patients and that it was dangerous, but I decided to come without expectations and just experience the place. I went in and discovered the happiest people there are," he says.
"I have never experienced anything like this in my life - love of country and people, such warm feelings. People said we saved them, that I made their day. Even though I enlisted to be a warrior, the goal in the end was to help people. That's the most significant thing I did."
More in the project:
• The talking walls
• Colors of memory
• Edible emotions
During the week and a half he spent in Bnei Brak, Cohen celebrated his 20th birthday.
"You get up in the morning in the army and don't think about a birthday, and then suddenly the team leader says 'Michael has a birthday,' and everyone jumps on me and takes out a cake. It was amazing. I did not expect to be on my birthday in Bnei Brak, but I was happy to be with my friends. It's a great gift to be in a place like this. "
While Michael told the story of his life - about his childhood in Boston to Israeli parents, his immigration to Israel and settling in Kibbutz Lahav in the south and his challenging military service, Efrat continued to create his character.
Finally, a cheerful soldier figure is created, with a red beret on his head, an orange Home Front Command vest on his shoulders and he spreads his hands over the people who changed his life in a week and a half in Bnei Brak.
"Ultimately I try to describe how I feel from Michael's stories. The way he imagines Bnei Brak, the way he relates to life. A work with optimism."