Nadav Prezanchevsky, an artist born in Haifa (1982), grew up in Ramot Remez. After years in Tel Aviv and Africa, he returned to his city, and currently lives in the Ziv neighborhood.
Over the years, Nadav experimented with creating in a variety of materials: leather, wood, metal, glass, and ceramics. For a long time, this was a work for pleasure – a hobby only. All this until he encountered an extraordinary scientific phenomenon: Lichtenberg Formations (Lichtenberg Figures).
Lichtenberg Formations
Lichtenberg formations are fractal patterns (*) that appear when a strong electric current passes through an insulating material, such as wood or plastic. In rare cases, people who have survived a lightning strike develop temporary Lichtenberg formations on their skin.
The patterns are created as a result of a "breakthrough" of electricity. They create an appearance reminiscent of tree branches, rivers, or the structure of nerves.
The phenomenon is named after the German physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. Lichtenberg discovered the patterns in 1777 while working with static electricity. Since then, the formations have become an object of scientific research, and later also an artistic inspiration.
(*) A fractal is a complex geometric structure made up of self-similar structures.. Every small part of the fractal resembles the entire shape. In other words, when you magnify a fractal and look at it closely, you discover the same shape again, over and over again, at different levels of scale.
Lichtenberg Formations – Art?
The phenomenon and the possibilities it opens up captured Nadav’s imagination. He learned how to create Lichtenberg formations in an inventive way: wood is soaked in a conductive solution, then a high voltage is passed through it. The resistance creates electric arcs that char the wood, creating a branching network of natural patterns – breathtaking fractals.
The beauty of the connection between science, nature, and trauma led Nadav to an insight: It is precisely through resistance that transmission develops. And as in nature, the clash between forces creates a new, deeper complexity.
In 2016, when he first encountered the phenomenon, he was overcome by two conflicting feelings: amazement at the wild and spontaneous beauty of the phenomenon on the one hand, and the urge to control it, to "tell it what to do," on the other. This gave rise to the conflict that would accompany Nadav's artistic path: Control versus surrender, And so it began His journey is to turn the phenomenon into a method and the craft into art.
איך זה עובד?
When an insulator is charged with high voltage, the electric current seeks the easiest path to discharge. During the discharge, it “breaks” the local resistance, creating brown or black marks – these are burn marks that remain as evidence of the current path. In most cases, branching structures are created, resembling lightning or roots. To achieve the desired result, Nadav uses enormous electrical voltages, which can reach up to 10,000 volts (for reference, the voltage in a wall socket is 220 volts AC). To work in this way, he must adhere to special clothing and uncompromising safety conditions.
Warning to readers: Do not try this at home!
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road start
At first, Nadav worked with plywood and sandwich panels – readily available materials that people throw away. In the first six months, he “learned the patterns.”
His works were captured by people who saw in them diverse images: neurons, rivers, veins, mountains, corals – and also trees, to which he always felt a personal connection.
The fig and mulberry trees that grew in his childhood yard, the tall cypress tree that he climbed alone, and later, the baobab trees in Kenya – all are evident in the spirit of the works.
Over time, Nadav gradually managed to “control the electricity” – to direct the arcs as he wished by limiting the flow space. But then he discovered that control ruined the magic: the patterns became predictable, less wild. Instead of electricity – it became a pencil.
He left for Africa for a year. In Kenya, surrounded by spectacular landscapes, he began to create for housing and food, by bartering with the owners of the place where he stayed. There, surrounded by wild nature, he returned to experiment. The first work that showed him his way was "The Octopus"There he learned not only to "direct" – but to place Enabling framework Within it, the living pattern develops on its own. Like training dogs, like raising children – not a command, but a collaboration between the artist and the material.
He later worked on similar barter deals to finance his travels in Uganda, Rwanda, Congo and South Africa. He loves the works from this period – both because of the style that was born, and because they are in the hands of people who truly love them.
Back to Israel
Upon his return to Israel, Nadav began to "electrify" in three creative channels:
- Literary/television content – Narratives.
- Free abstracts – According to what is already in the tree.
- Natural phenomena – A combination of the first and the second.
He exhibited at festivals, pedestrian streets, pubs and cafes, and received warm responses. Nadav’s mother – his biggest supporter – passed away several years ago. She always encouraged him to introduce color into his works. After her death, he dared – gently and carefully – to do so. His most personal work was his mother’s tombstone.
Nadav says: "Perhaps the most important work I did was my mother's tombstone – colorful, alive, wonderful and imperfect – as it was. I couldn't bear the thought of it being presented as a boring block of marble in a sea of concrete and stone."
Back to sources
Nadav continues: "Recently I returned to monochromatic, to listening to the "desires" of the wood, and to combining the electrical flow with the grain that already exists in the wood. In parallel with the main experiments in wood, I achieved initial success in electrifying skin and bone, such as copying to ceramics. Later, I would like to paint biological phenomena such as lungs, dendrites, cell borders and nerves, geological phenomena such as the African volcanoes that I was privileged to visit, and cosmic phenomena that I have already begun to experiment with."
I have always had a great passion and affinity for nature and science. So I focused on my experiments and experiences, on direct interaction, from the tour group to my workshop/laboratory today. In my opinion, beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder. In addition to the subjective, there is universal beauty. In my opinion, the natural patterns that my clients recognized in my first works are the reason why everyone responds to these works. I believe that the eye recognizes complexities in nature from which we emerged, as an evolutionary advantage, and when you multiply this with consciousness, you get art. Between new discovery and erasure of old knowledge, we improve our understanding of this beauty, in a scientific process, between two forces, a process that created art. As Terry Pratchett said, "It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works."
Where to find the works
You can see Nadav's works at several places and events:
- On Nadav's website – The site includes galleries, mesmerizing videos of the process, and contact details.
- in Haifa: Iza Beer In the lower city, Nola Sox Pub in the Ziv Center
- In Jinja, Uganda: Jinja Backpackers
- In Mombasa, Kenya: Tulia Backpackers
At exhibitions and presentations:
- May 2024: Exhibition "Intuitive Drawing", Chagall House, Haifa
- June 2024 : "Choreography of Color" exhibition at We-Art Karmiel
- June 2024: International Exhibition inTolomeo Art Space, Milan, Italy (in collaboration with the ICU Association).
Looking for a place to perform and collaborate
Nadav is looking for spaces to exhibit in Israel – and especially In Haifa, to which he is deeply connected. He is open to collaborations, to combining his work with the content of others, and to creating works on an exceptionally large scale.