Michal Worke was born in Ethiopia and moved to Israel via Sudan at the age of three, as part of ‘Operation Moses’.
Her work is framed by the impact of this geographical and cultural dislocation and by the question whether the move to Israel was an exile from her homeland in Ethiopia or a return to her true homeland, Israel. It reflects on the struggle to survive and settle in a new home, widening into a more comprehensive confrontation with the theme of global migration.
Worke’s work blends a naïve, brightly coloured figurative style with a feminist critique that references the Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego. Her self-portraits and portraits of family and friends are accompanied by symbolic objects and items of clothing, such as the Netala, a traditional headscarf worn by Ethiopian and Eritrean women.
Worke had a solo presentation with Goodman Gallery in London, in 2022 as well as participating in Art Basel and Art Basel Miami.
Institutional solo exhibitions include Portrait Time (2020) at Herzliya Museum, Herzliya; Portrait of Many Portraits (2019) and I am black and I am proud (2017) both at The Artists’ House, Tel Aviv. Group exhibitions include Pictures from Family Life (2018) at Eretz Israel Museum and A Woman for Sisters (2017) at Herzl Lillenblum Museum.
