Orna Millo, born in Tel Aviv in 1951, has made Jerusalem her home and the site of her creative activity. Her many solo exhibitions include installations and performance art. The Israel Museum has hosted her one-woman “Drawings on the Death of My Mother” (1992) and her “Hester Panim” / “Concealment” performance art installation, for which she was awarded Special Recognition in the Adi Foundation‘s “Borders of Sanctity” competition (2002). She is also the recipient of the Shoshana Ish-Shalom Jerusalem Prize (1991). Her works can be found among the holdings of the Israel Museum and in many private collections. Orna has taught at Jerusalem’s School of Visual Theater (1987-1994), the Avni Institute of Art and Design (1995-2000), and Shenkar College, where she held the post of Senior Lecturer (1999-2000). From 2005-2012 she was a member of the “Agripas 12” Co-Operative Gallery in Jerusalem. Since 1977 she has been teaching small groups and leading workshops in her Jerusalem studio.
I believe everyone can create art, if there is motivation. Creating a work of art is an enriching experience that brings you closer to your self. But this doesn’t mean that everyone who takes up art for pleasure, as a hobby, is an artist. It’s a long way from being an amateur to being an artist, and it requires a great deal of preparation. When I teach, I try to sense what is unique in each of my pupils, even if they are beginners; and it is that special quality that needs to be nurtured. It makes me proud when, at the end of a class, all the students’ final productions differ from one another, even if they’ve all been looking at the same model during the lesson. I believe that teaching the observation of nature, and teaching sketching and drawing from such observation, form the basis of good painting. Not that I believe in realistic painting in and of itself: I think a “good” painting is always an interpretation of what one sees. Even if there is a “correct” painting somewhere at the basis of any particular work, that isn’t the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to take something from your own special world view and pour it into the artistic act. Many people wouldn’t agree, but I do believe that plastic art is a language that can be learned, and it is that language that permits change and enables the game that makes one artist uniquely different from any other one. Even if you never become an artist, by studying art you become a better “consumer” of art and derive greater pleasure from experiencing it.