Gregory Kohelet was born in 1954 in Fergana. The son of a sculptor, Gregory was initiated into art by his father. He wasn’t pressured to learn “the classical laws of Art” but only to love and respect nature – the master teacher. As a young boy, Gregory traveled with his father to wild landscapes with the intention of learning to understand the meaning of composition, color, and expression as they exist in Nature. There, he listened to the music, understood the wisdom of the stones. Nature taught him to listen to silence. He thought that if he were to stay there he would become a Buddhist. But his was a different destiny. He left his parents and his town Fergana at the age of 14 and went to study art in Tashkent. He studied painting for 4 years at the Art College, and then for five more years at the Academy of Art. He had excellent teachers, many from Moscow and St. Petersburg. At College he was particularly influenced by Eastern art: Japanese, Chinese, Indian, while at the Academy he studied European Art: Giotto, Bruegel, Modigliani, More, Brancusi and Russian icons. Yet he felt that his life’s course must pass through Jerusalem. In 1990 he immigrated with his family to Israel and settled in Jerusalem. In the holy city he absorbed much light and divine inspiration. He believes in G-d, but only in Jerusalem did he really “meet” him. His influences from literature: The Bible essentially, Rilke, Matzu-Batzu (China), Lorca (Spain), Eluard (France)… His influences from the world of music: Mozart, Bach, organ and liturgical (Armenian, Catholic, Jewish…) His family is also a source of inspiration. His son Daniel – born in Jerusalem, his first son – born in Tashkent, and his wife, who dominates the female figure in his work. read more