arts & life

continued from page 75

a handsaw and other tools, and
bins that hold bits and pieces of
the materials he uses. A plastic
table and chairs provides a place
to rest and have a smoke.
Remarkably, Davidov stood up
for a good part of the 12 hours
he put in every day to make
Inner; Galina estimates he spent
250 days each year working on
the sculpture. Davidov started
out with a vision, but he let each
phase of the sculpture guide the
next.
There’s a Holocaust memorial
that occupies a lower level of the
sculpture, its floors a mosaic of
tiny tiles, two abstract sculptures
of twisted wires, barred windows
and tiny electric flames set at a
height that forces the viewer to
bow — or pay their respects, as
Davidov envisioned — in order to
take it all in.
“It reminds me of how many
Jewish people were killed,’’ he
says.
Moving upward, the mood
lightens. On a higher level is
the Western Wall, replete with
weeds springing through the
cracks, and gates that welcome
visitors. Behind it is a lectern and
Ark, doorways fashioned from
pounded metal, pillars covered in
copper, Hebrew letters inset in the
exterior, a stone engraved with
a woman’s profile — his grand-
mother.
Davidov speaks fondly of her
and his grandfather, a rabbi who
took him in when his father was
conscripted into the Russian army
at the start of World War II. They
lived in Kuba, a mountain village
in Azerbaijan, until his father
returned at the end of the war.
His grandfather’s praying still
rings in his ears.
“I’m not religious, but I’m
Jewish in my blood,” Davidov
says.
Galina Davidov busies herself
showing photos of his work, of
which she is clearly proud. She
helped him assemble pieces of
Inner Sanctum, which drew on
her talents: A corner of their din-
ing room table is given over to the
complicated jigsaw puzzles she
likes to work.
Davidov isn’t a trained sculp-
tor; his mother told him that at
the age of 5, he was drawing all
the time. Davidov remembers at
the age of 10 or 12 doing work he
calls chikanka, a form of bas-relief
using copper. He just likes work-
ing with his hands, he shrugs.
Daughter Yanna Davidov, who

Details include a Holocaust memorial plaza and man blowing a shofar (not shown) and tiny hamsas used as door handles to the Ark (above).

76 January 28 • 2016