Ofra Friedland, born in Jaffa, Israel, in 1959, is considered one of today’s more significant Israeli contemporary artists, creating in oils, murals, tapestry, ceramics and sculpture. After studies at the Ramat Gan College of Art and the Avni Institute in Tel-Aviv, Ofra served as apprentice to several of Israel’s leading artists, and was first recognized for her oil paintings on canvas which took Biblical themes for inspiration.
Among her best known works in oil are the fifteen panel “Songs of Ascent” based on the Psalms of King David; a five-panel representation of the Five Books of Moses; a mural of scenes of Jerusalem, and other series based on traditional themes such as ‘The Seven Species’, ‘The Twelve Tribes’, and ‘The Seven Days of Creation’. Some of these motifs have also been rendered as rug designs, stained glass windows, ceramic and bronze sculpture, and frescoes.
Described as a “lyricist in color”, Ofra is a master of diverse artistic media, prolific in creative endeavor, and has been commissioned for designing complete environments, such as synagogue designs which encompass a range from oil paintings, rug and tapestry designs, to stained glass windows, synagogue furniture, and building facade. Her complete environments also appear in several hotels (the Dan Pearl and the Olive Tree in Jerusalem, the Hilton Tel-Aviv, among others) and other commercial buildings in the United States and Europe.
Ofra’s artistic philosophy includes a willingness to entertain new perspectives and try to bring together wildly divergent influences. She sees the artist as a means to interpret and amalgamate a subject with material in a unique and meaningful way that people can recognize and connect with.