Esther Guenassia
Born in Paris in 1964, Esther Guenassia decided to devote herself to the arts from an early age.
In conjunction with her studies at a college of advanced business studies (in 1987 she received a degree from the Institut Français de la Mode [French Institute of Fashion]) she continued her study of drawing and painting at the Cours Charpentier and afterwards at workshops of the Beaux Arts de Paris.
Until 1991, she continued giving expression to her natural sense of color and her love of the plastic arts, creating fabric collections for Japan.
Her personal soul searching led her to research her roots. During the 90s, Esther Guenassia visited Israel a number of times and discovered Jewish mysticism. At the same time, she launched an artistic investigation into the symbolism of Hebrew letters.
This research fascinated her and she traveled to the USA where she spent a number of years experiencing life among various movements connected to Kabbalah. These meetings enabled her to reveal something of significance – the existence of an alternative reality.
Thus, she revealed the important, indispensable key that gave her access to an alternative perception, a perception that lies beyond our five senses. Esther draws on her transcendental experience and passes us its key through her paintings and her Hebrew lettering. For her, these holy letters possessed of symbolic content, carry the Divine secret and infinite light without which physicality is devoid of the spark of life.
Esther Guenassia's works are displayed in private and public collections in Europe, the United States, and Israel. From 2002 onwards, she has been living and working in Jerusalem.