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Moriya Appelfeld

Moriya Appelfeld, figurative sculptor

Work

sculptures

    In the studio

    I build a figure by laying small pieces of clay one on another, wherever a volume wants to rise.

    In one method I developed, I thin the clay almost to a paste and lay it on with a palette knife. The knife keeps my hand at a distance, so I see the form more clearly.

    I don’t smooth a sculpture until its making disappears. The marks stay, because the texture tells a story I cannot put into words.

    Moriya Appelfeld is a figurative sculptor whose work moves between observation, memory and imagination. Human, animal and imagined figures, built by hand in clay and carved in stone.

    At the Achiam Museum

    Studies made at the Achiam Museum in Binyamina, in dialogue with the work of the sculptor Achiam.

      About

      “I take a step back, and the material suddenly stops being material.”

      Moriya Appelfeld works primarily in clay and stone. A model is one possible starting point, never a condition: her figures also come from memory, intuition and imagination.

      She studied sculpture in Jerusalem for three years and trained in anatomy and classical-realist sculpture as an intern at the Sacred Art School in Florence.

      She took part in the JSS Civita masterclass and residency led by Israel Hershberg, carved marble daily for two months at a residency in Athens, and studied silver sculpting in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She has run an independent studio since 2020.

      Exhibitions

      • 2026Group exhibition, Hakubia, Jerusalem
      • 2025Untying the Knot, group exhibition, Pardes Hanna
      • 2025Open Studio, the artist’s studio, Israel
      • 2023Group exhibition, Hakubia, Jerusalem
      • 2023Artists’ collective art fair, Shapira Garden, Tel Aviv

      Education and residencies

      • 2025Silver sculpting, Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • 2025Marble carving residency, Athens
      • 2024JSS Civita masterclass and residency, led by Israel Hershberg, Civita, Italy
      • 2024Internship, Sacred Art School, Florence: anatomy and classical-realist sculpture
      • Sculpture studies, three years, Jerusalem