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A South American-born, Florida-based artist derives
inspiration from his Eastern European Jewish heritage.

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SUZANNE CHESSLER

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Special to the Jewish News

zequiel Rotstain was neither born nor
raised in Eastern Europe, but that's the
setting most often recalled in his artistry.
The land holds his roots and pulls him
back in unexpected ways.
When Rotstain displays his works, at two Florida
studios, viewers relate to the images that reach back
to their own heritage. The experience can become
very emotional and encompassing and has affected at
least two Michigan residents traveling through the
state now called home by the multimedia artist.
"The work that I do is directly linked with Jewish
culture, and it has a lot to do with memory," explains
Rotstain, 42, born and raised in South America,
where his parents fled to escape the Nazis. "There are
different views of life, particularly before World War
II, and I also work with contemporary representation
of traditional subjects."
Intending to become an interior designer,
Rotstain went to commercial art school in Brazil and
Peru but found early work with a cousin who had a
mill in North Carolina.
Two years later, in 1995, while earning a living as
a custom furniture maker, he realized that his inter-
est was turning to artistic representations. He had
completed a cabinet in memory of his father, and
that inspired similar projects.
"The front of the cabinet has a collage, and the
inside holds a picture of my father," explains
Rotstain, who incorporated a movement sensor to
illuminate the picture as people pass by and drawers

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Counter-clockwise,
from top..

This piece memorializes
. the artist's father and
grandparents and shows
them just after their
arrival in South America
in flight from the Nazis.

Serving whitefish, lamb shank,
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While earning a living as
a custom furniture maker,
Rotstain realized that his
interest was turning to
artistic representations.

"Poland, 1949," mixed
media on wood panel.

