Isack Kousynsky
by Michaela Byrne
Isack Kousnsky was born in Haifa, Israel in 1950s. Early experiences in Israel are at the core of Kousnsky’s artistic outlook. Isack fashions transcendent images of nature and fantastic views of the city meant to jolt us out of our frenzied, urban routines. He employs an array of abstract compositional strategies that play with the viewer’s perception of pictorial space. In the looming, mirrored compositions of his oceanscapes, we are presented with the very image of infinity. In his flower pictures, we are left to wander through all-over compositions of blossoms and branches. There is also a bit of whimsy in Kousnsky’s nature photographs. Unexpected colors might disrupt an otherwise naturalistic landscape or natural forms might cluster into suggestive shapes, stimulating the viewer’s imagination.
Isack is also a passionate artist-activist for Haiti. Isack's numerous trips to Haiti in the last couple of years have created a body of work that captures the lives of real Haitians and the poverty that the earthquake left behind. Isack documents the efforts of individuals making a change, such as the building of a bakery in Kaskou. His "Haiti Hope Project" allows people to learn and see more about these efforts and to contribute. He is currently donating a portion of profits from sales of these images towards building a women's clinic and an emergency care clinic in Kaskou. For more, visit’s Isack’s site: www.haiti-hope.com and sister site: www.kaskoufoundation.org.