In an installation composed of salt sculptures, palm leaves, metal and videos, Ronny Aviram explores the emotional landscape of departure. She combines her own biographical experiences with biblical stories and Mediterranean myths. Her starting point is the story of Lot’s wife from the Old Testament. Fleeing from the impending destruction of Sodom, she disobeys God’s instructions to look back at her hometown – and turns into a pillar of salt. The act of looking back can be interpreted in different ways. For Aviram, it reflects the complex relationship between what awaits a person leaving a familiar place and what they leave behind. Both the act of departure and the backward glance are seen as essential parts of a process marked by inner conflict and ambiguous emotions – caught between the hope of a new beginning and the longing for what is lost. In Aviram’s work, salt symbolises the state of suspension between the past and the future as well as the duality of destruction and preservation.
Ronny Aviram lives and works in Leipzig. She studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University and photography at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. Werde ich zu einer Salzsäule [Will I turn into a pillar of salt] is the final project of her diploma studies with Prof. Dr. Ines Schaber. She was awarded the Study Prize of the Friends of the HGB and Sparkasse Leipzig (2019), and is co-author of the book TelAviVienna: Vom Heimkommen (2022, with Christina Maria Landerl).