Orly Glantz operates in the art world from a deep and uncompromising connection to the act of painting itself. This is a connection that began in childhood, during her school years, and has accompanied her through a continuous sequence of creation, exploration, and learning. For Orly, painting is a place of quiet, introspection, and escape into an inner world—a space where time softens and the soul finds calm. The blank canvas is, for her, an invitation, a challenge, and a constant curiosity about what will emerge upon it.
She began her artistic journey through art studies in high school, and continued to paint consistently over the years, alongside diverse experiences in sculpture, mosaic, and working with concrete. Despite this variety, painting has remained the unwavering center. It is the place where a refining process occurs—sometimes complex and challenging, but always one that leads to inner clarity.
Her development as an artist was built through persistent study with various artists and teachers, at least once a week, regardless of other pursuits. In recent years, she studied with Gil Desiano Biton and Arik Ventura, an experience that marked a significant turning point and led her into the world of abstract painting. Through this encounter, a new, free, and fascinating space opened before her, to which she connected immediately. Concurrently, she deepened her studies in art history at Tel Aviv University, driven by a desire to understand the evolution of painting throughout the ages, the methods, techniques, and models of different artists. Her subsequent interior design studies enabled her to integrate her love of textures, patterns, and color combinations, which she considers the heart of the power in her paintings.
Orly’s works are rooted in dialogue with the great abstract artists, including Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat, alongside figurative artists who move on the border of abstraction, such as Matisse, Van Gogh, and David Hockney. She is particularly drawn to the spirit of Andy Warhol’s era and the circle around him—a period of breaking boundaries, free expression, and direct, uncompromising statement. Additionally, Japanese art influences her deeply through its cleanliness, aesthetics, use of textures and patterns, and the ability to create depth and quiet that invite prolonged contemplation.
The inspiration for her works comes from external sources such as urban architecture, nature, vegetation, and landscapes, but primarily from her inner world. For Orly, painting is a process of personal and intimate exposure, an expression of emotions, thoughts, doubts, and processes she undergoes. In the past two years, following complex and significant experiences—including a profound personal experience after the difficult events of the Nova festival, where her daughter was present and went through the traumatic ordeal, and a long struggle with her recovery process, alongside a shared journey they took together—a significant turning point arrived. It was a stage of rebirth. From this place, a wave of creation burst forth, paintings poured onto the canvas with honesty and intensity, and from them emerged a new period of optimism, hope, and renewed birth of artistic language. The works reflect a clear sense of rebirth, change, and profound renewal.
Her creative process begins with a strong impulse to stand before the canvas. From there comes the selection of a relatively limited color palette, usually two or three colors, through which she creates various experiments and connections. The initial painting is always accompanied by music, which directs, releases, and guides the emotion. Subsequently, a long process of decision-making, deliberations, and layers develops, using pastels and additional materials. Music serves as an internal compass, and the entire practice is experienced as deep therapy.
In the current project, Orly paints on 100% raw cotton canvas, a material that allows the paint to absorb naturally and uniquely, creating a matte, airy, and primal appearance. Most of the works are in large formats, giving the painting an impressive presence and inviting the viewer to sustained contemplation—one that does not end, but allows each person to enter their personal world and undergo their own internal process.
The technique she employs combines highly diluted acrylic paints, creating a monochromatic appearance reminiscent of watercolors, alongside colored pastels that add volume and framing. The contrast between the flowing, free paint and the rigid, enclosing pastel creates an interesting visual tension, a sense of ceaseless movement against partial control. The dilution and materiality give the works a quiet, natural, and clean character.
Orly Glantz’s artistic statement is clear and wordless. The painting reveals her inner world and allows the viewer a glimpse into deep personal processes. However, contemplating the painting does not remain solely an attempt to understand the artist, but leads the viewer to remain with themselves, with their thoughts and emotions. Within the flow, movement, and layers, a space of quiet, contemplation, and inner listening is created.
Many of the paintings convey a strong sense of movement, almost an illusion of motion before the eyes. For Orly, movement is an expression of existential desire, of life itself. Circular, feminine, infinite movement, representing wholeness, closing of circles, and acceptance of what exists. Textures and patterns, in her view, never end, and the painting could continue endlessly beyond the boundaries of the canvas.
Her aspiration is for her works to bring an optimistic statement, strong energy, and tranquility into homes. Paintings that invite interest, inspiration, and a quiet sense of power—one that accompanies daily life and gives it depth, movement, and light.
