Yael Harnik is a Tel-Aviv-based textile artist who returned to her hometown after six transformative years living and working in Japan. Her art navigates the interplay between fleeting images and enduring sensations, as well as the relationship between the visual and the tactile. Combining a deep mastery of traditional textile processes with a modern and contemporary outlook, Harnik’s work reflects a unique fusion of heritage and innovation.

Harnik’s practice revolves around themes of repetition and disruption as mechanisms of change, examining the perception of time through material. Her focus on the materiality of textiles and their structural grids stems from a desire to create within carefully constructed conceptual frameworks. As she explains, “Textile is a form of grid or net through which I explore systems of order and rhythm. I am particularly drawn to the time-intensive nature of craft, as it offers a way to experience and produce a sense of time.”

Harnik holds a BA in Textile Design from Shenkar College of Engineering, Design, and Art in Israel (2012). Awarded the prestigious Monbukagakusho Scholarship by the Japanese government in 2016, she pursued advanced studies at Tama Art University in Tokyo, earning an MFA (2019) and completing PhD studies in Art (2022). During her time in Japan, she specialized in traditional dyeing techniques, particularly stencil paste-resist dyeing (Katazome) and indigo dyeing.

Currently, Harnik is a lecturer at the Design School of Haifa University. Her works have been showcased in solo exhibitions in Tokyo and Israel and in group exhibitions across Israel, Japan, South Korea, France, and the Netherlands. This exhibition marks the first time her work is being presented in the United States.