Audrey Meyer Munz was born and raised in Belgium. As a child, she was exposed by her German-born father and Belgian-born mother to a wide range of cultures and places around the world. Surprisingly, by the tender age of four, she had already developed a grand dream of her own: To live in Israel. This dream accompanied her throughout her early years in Brussels. At the age of 17, Audrey received an unexpected gift from her parents for Chanukkah: oven mitts and a kitchen towel. This was how her parents let her know that they accepted her desire to move to a far away country. And so, in 1984, Audrey finally made Aliyah to Israel.
Jerusalem was Audrey’s first stop in Israel, and it remained her home for the next fourteen years. During the course of her academic studies in Jerusalem, Audrey became enchanted by Japanese art and culture. She successfully obtained two academic degrees in Japanese studies. In addition, she traveled to Japan several times and further cultivated her strong love for the culture of this fascinating country. In 2000, Audrey switched gears and moved to Tel Aviv. Two years later, something happened that changed the course of her life: In a small bookstore, she came across a startlingly colorful book, Contemporary Mosaic in Israel. It was written by Sarit Pilz-Granit − someone who, later, became her first teacher of mosaic art. While mosaics are composed of small pieces − to Audrey’s perception, they represent something whole, larger than life. The power of this kind of artistic medium captured her heart, giving her the feeling of creating a work so much greater than herself, an art that grows and expands into almost gigantic proportions. Audrey is attracted to the central role of light in mosaic art. Light has been a primary element of her personal experience. The courageous transition she made in her personal life, from living in a gray, European country to a country awash in sunlight, makes her particularly appreciative and sensitive to light. During her years of living in Jerusalem, she was moved daily by the vision of the sunset as it glowed across the white, Jerusalem-stone homes, an image that never failed to captivate her. The dialogue that develops between stones and light is one of the most significant components of her work.
Mosaics are the vitamins
of Plastic Arts
The Artist
Audrey sees a strong parallel between her own jump − leaving the warmth of her parents’ home in Belgium and diving into a new culture − and the creation of a mosaic piece. She is fond of explaining that her work occurs through a process of deconstruction, which makes room for a renewed interaction between fragments and light. Metaphorically, this reflects the process of adapting to a new country, and her artistic and individual breakthroughs.
In 2005, Audrey set up a studio in Tel Aviv. Over the years, she continues to travel abroad extensively. She participates in courses in Italy that are run by well-known masters and experts in the ancient practices of traditional mosaic art.
Audrey defines herself as having a social and political conscience, and she believes passionately in the value of being responsive and contributing in the social and political arena. Art is the medium through which she shares her social, political and human messages. For example, Audrey participated in a unique program with junior high school students in Sederot at the height of the missile attacks that rocked that city, as part of a national campaign for active citizenship. “Smile of the Universe” was the name given to the park bench that they built together, under Audrey’s guidance. As a result of the project, to Audrey’s immense gratification, a garbage dump in a school courtyard was transformed into a pleasant area for play and relaxation.
At a time when it was very unclear what had happened to the MIAs Regev, Goldwasser and Shalit, Audrey expressed her indignation in “Don’t Allow Apathy to Kill Them!” A simple plastic chair was transformed, through Audrey’s magical touch, into an impressive mosaic piece.
Another large exhibit that Audrey participated in, “Longing for Peace,” was presented all over the Galilee. In this project, Audrey’s goal was to express her support and identification with the suffering of residents of the North throughout the Second Lebanon War. In addition, she participated in an exhibit called “Until White Smoke Comes Out,” which focused on the question of, “What are you willing to do in order to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?”
Today, Audrey is invited to international contemporary art biennales, fairs and competitions around the world, where she consistently receives recognition and appreciation for her art. Her work is presented alongside that of painters, sculptors, photographers and video artists. Because mosaic art is so rarely displayed at these types of events, she has the privilege of providing an unusual degree of exposure for this art form.
In her own words, Audrey explains, “I create picto-mosaics, a term that I composed, tapping into the world of your emotions and enhancing the wall space.”
