A universal symbol “cast” from an abandoned life preserver, the weight of Shapira’s subject matter spans more than a decade across three continents tackling conflicting fields of view. Hope is simultaneously the aspiration to end wars and the catalyst to begin them—a measure of human life. In this recent series, he cast hundreds in concrete for those who it is too late to save.
"...they are made with such care, with a deft hand and a smart eye, that they are never what you’d expect...Starting from scratch, Shapira mixes his pigments from earth, ash, and limestone...A magnolia tree blooms in front; its pink and white blossoms flutter like oversize moths, provocatively flat against the volume of the green and dusky peach trunk and branches...Every line, every shading seems deliberate and felicitous, as discerning about what beauty comprises." -Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe 2015
CONTACT: aithan@aithanshapira.com