Matisse said when there is war you should go and paint flowers. So you know when we are in the darkest uh places that people need hope. And sometimes when you're over obsessed with the situation, then you don't leave a gap, a ceiling to look forward to. You're you're down. That's where we are basically consciously now Israel is in the low, and we need stuff to elevate it. The whole concept of the show was to bring awareness to all this issue of stolen artworks from the Jewish community and from this uh thing. So it was kind of sort of also a connection between a bit of activism and uh making awareness for an important subject in my point of view.

Welcome to the Israeli Trailblazer Show. I'm your host, Jennifer Weisman. After years of living in Israel, I'm now back in America, and I realized something big. Israelis are wildly misunderstood, and our media focuses only on conflict. Instead, Israelis are out there making your life better almost every single day. Think of ways guiding you home and Monday.com powering your work. But the media rarely tells you this story, and that's why we're here. Israeli Trailblazer Show is about uncovering the bold, creative, and often hidden ways that Israelis are helping your world no matter where you live. Today, my guest is Orin Fisher. Orin is an artist and a community activist originally from Los Angeles. He now lives in Israel, and he does a unique way of blending drawing and sculpture and video in a way that sparks interest and connection. And it's not just in Israel, his work has been seen in many places in the world. So welcome, Oren.

Thank you.

How would you describe your work in a sentence?

As we change as people, and as I change, um every time it's affecting my work and it's really dynamic. And I feel change, change maybe is the word for my art. Because as me as a person, every second that the day goes on, I'm changing. So the art basically reflects always who I am and my surroundings and society around me and where I'm living, and it contains the whole sum up of until I got to this point right now. So and it's always different, the point that I'm I'm at.

So you're a full-time artist. I want to talk about your artwork. Describe your art for the person listening.

My art fields are painting. I paint on fabrics, on wood, on paper. I'm also sort of a designer and I make uh characteristic paintings and basically all different mediums inside the painting. Another medium is the sculpture. Sculpture I work uh with wood and with uh found objects, uh recycled objects I found in my immediate uh area. I make video art. For example, there is video art of me dancing in public places.

I saw that. That was very cool.

Thank you. So, for example, what when you ask me medium, so I can say I'm also a dancer, so but it's not really dancing, it's just me uh expressing myself in a way. There's uh sculptures and there is performance art, which I'm going to events and uh costumed or I'm making something which is live in front of people. And also uh in live shows, for example, so the background, I forgot the name in English, the background of the of the show and costume design and all of that, I'm also in that field.

So, how do you find inspiration when you say you're using material that you find in your surroundings? You're just walking down a street and you see what is it you see around you and you say, Oh, well, this would make an incredible sculpture. What are the elements that you find that intrigue you and you want to make art out of them?

Well, I live in a remote place, uh really unique place called uh kibbutzamar. It's like half hour from Elat. It's the southest part of Israel, it's in the middle of the desert in a small, small village, a community village. And in this village, there's a lot of I'm here for the past two years. So right now, if you ask me today, I'm really excited to see all the things that the desert brings. Let's say the wood that's affected by the desert and by the time and uh the deserts basically and the dust affects all the things. So right now I'm walking through the kibbutz and I find all these old things. Usually it's old things that time changed them in a way, and uh, I don't know, I feel sort of emotional connection to it without a really explanation, or it's it might have uh a bizarre uh structure, or it looks something that could be something, or it's have a face or a human expression, because you know, everything, even the things that doesn't move in our lives, they still are living. So I if I see some spark in it, then I have the urge to collect it, and then I bring it to my studio, and the process starts. It can sit in the back of the studio for one year and I won't do nothing, and I can immediately do something, but I collect stuff that are uh intriguing for me.

And in terms of your exhibitions, I know you've exhibited in Berlin, Düsseldorf, of course, in Israel, and now you're planning a US tour. What kinds of artwork do you bring? Do you bring everything? Do you bring your video? Do you bring all your wall installations, your creative sculptures, everything comes with you?

For example, my my show in Disseldorf, the show was called Lost Works, and uh it's about uh really famous curator in Disseldorf that the Nazis basically stole all his artworks, and it was high-end artworks, Picasso, and all this stuff. And he he was left without nothing. He had a big gallery in Disseldorf, and he was uh a really famous Jewish guy there. And uh since then, let's say for example, now the mayor of Disseldorf has one of the works. Like also at the moment, a lot of his works are spread at Disseldorf, which is sort of a liberal, really progressed country, but a lot of artworks that was still anyway. It's a big issue. So my concept of the show was just I redrew all the paintings, I saw all the original, and I here in the kibbutz, I drew all of them on papers and I brought it with me. Like I sent it to Disseldov, and over there we hung the whole show with the artworks basically, and uh and next to it there was a small print of the original one. So the people that came to the show could see the original one and my interpretation, and the whole concept of the show was to bring awareness to all this issue of stolen artworks from the Jewish community and from this uh thing. So it was kind of sort of also a connection between a bit of activism and uh making awareness for an important subject, in my point of view, and uh I also enjoyed to paint and to connect with old masters and so you took the image of say a Picasso and you did your interpretation of that Picasso painting. Yeah, exactly.

And how was that exhibit received in Düsseldorf?

It was really interesting. The German people there they're having a hard time to discuss these things, and they're really uh polite about it, and they won't tell you direct stuff, but uh I think this whole thing is really targeting them still because they feel the guilt and things like that. But the curator was really amazing, she's really a pro-Israeli, even Zionist uh German curator. And the show went great. People really got to know the whole subject and enjoyed the paintings together, and the whole thing just worked in a harmonic way. I hope it will make an impact also for the subject, even more.

So your focus is art and activism. It's sort of like the intersection between art and activism. How do you see your art changing people's minds a little bit? Like, for example, in Düsseldorf, you're talking about a very difficult subject, right? Nazis stealing art owned by Jews, that they then murder or something horrible is happening to them in that moment. How do you see that conversation changing? I mean, you said they were quiet, but they were polite. Do you think it resonated?

Yeah, I think everything you do with uh intention and uh conflicts usually are a thing that's uh over there there's a lot of truth. Whatever you touch some sort of uh sour pain, if you reach something and this in and touch it where you have pain and you won't ignore it and continue on. Because if you ignore things rotten, but when you flew things in an artistic way and in a way that people even can enjoy it, and so it can be a healing intervention. That's why I think it's it's important. Yeah.

So in 2026, when you come to the US with your new exhibition, what do you hope the feeling people come away with is? What is the feeling you hope people have after they see your art in America?

I want to make a space where people could come and feel different sides of the Judaica and uh Judaism art and art from our culture, our old culture, and to bring it sort of a new vibe and to see how we can show the world the beauty of it without looking like Jews are orthodox with black hats and uh Schlemalach and all the stigma that we have. And just want to show the beauty of it, the symbolism that we have, and without discussing the whole uh the politics of it necessarily.

Right. I think for me, what I hear you saying is to look at Jews and and Israelis in particular as contributors to the art world in a fresh, optimistic way, and less so tied to a war and Gaza and conflict, because that's what the world sees, especially right now in August of 2025. It's just conflict, fighting, Israeli issues. That is what the media focuses on. That's where the clicks come in. And so that's actually the purpose behind this show is to talk about art and to talk about startups and to talk about fresh ideas and not focus on that, but to talk about how Israelis are contributing to mankind. And I think your art gives people in a surprising way a quiet way that you're changing the world, in my opinion.

Thank you. Matisse said when there is war, you should go and paint flowers. So, you know, when we are in the darkest uh places that people need hope. And sometimes when you're over obsessed with the situation, then you don't leave a gap, a ceiling to look forward to. You're you're down. That's where we are, basically, consciously now Israel is in the low, and we need stuff to elevate it. For me, I I'm trying to divide myself to do also this and also that, to know when to use the art sort of as a weapon, and to know where to use the spiritual side of it, and to elevate it and to connect universally with uh to the world, and all people are one. Thank you for making uh giving the stage to Israeli creators and uh entrepreneurs or every person that has a source within that wants to bring goodness to the world and wants to change the world in a way. I think I really believe that uh people should uh express themselves in unique ways and your platform legitimizes it. So it's important because me, I feel seen in a way. So us Israelis are a small, small country and we're dealing with a lot, but people are really with a lot of ambition and creativity here. So thanks for showing Beth.

Thank you for joining us on the Israeli Trailblazer Show. I'm Jennifer Weissman, and I hope this conversation with Orrin Fisher gave you a deeper insight into how Israelis are boldly helping the world through art. If this inspired you, please share it with a friend. Post it on all of your socials. And until next time, keep discovering and celebrate the Israeli trailblazers that are making your world better every day.