“Sliced” is the first solo exhibition by artist and designer Nomi Abeliovich, featuring a collection of 2D and 3D miniatures that reimagine the birthday cakes her mother baked for her during childhood.

In an effort to reclaim these cakes and the memories they hold, Nomi showcases the original album photos that capture the essence of each creation, a process she refers to as ‘memory desserts.’

The exhibition showcases works created between 2018 and 2021, utilizing watercolors and miniature models that blend architectural and culinary elements. On the Library wall, Nomi builds a system aimed at reclaiming the cakes and the memories they evoke, displaying the original images from which her cake representations were derived.

In recent years, Nomi has set out to explore the boundaries of cake; is it an object or an event? When does a cake cease to be a cake? Can anything be transformed into a cake? What remains of a cake that no longer exists? Could cake be a verb; to cake or not to cake? Must a cake be realized, or can it exist simply as an idea? Is a cake a language? Is it a wound?

For this exhibition, Nomi opted to work on a smaller scale. The miniatures evoke architectural models—compact representations of broader concepts—echoing her background as an architect. Simultaneously, these scaled-down pieces reflect images that have been forcibly kept small, akin to bonsai trees or feet binding. This duality lends the photos, which may initially appear nostalgic, with deeper meanings connected to past trauma.

In line with the theme of cake as a vehicle for memory-making, the exhibition also features ‘WonderCake’; a digital Instagram exhibition conceived, curated, and created by Abeliovich.

First displayed online during the 6^th edition of the international digital art biennale, “The Wrong Biennale,” the project began as a personal quest in search of cakes created by fellow artists and designers during the COVID-19 lockdown. This otherwise-impossible collection is showcased in a virtual chamber of curiosities, echoing the Renaissance Europe Wunderkammers.

WonderCake is displayed in a hybrid format, allowing visitors to access it via a QR code that opens on their smartphones.

The exhibition “Sliced” delves into the intricate relationship between memory and materiality, questioning how memories can be accessed and engaged while distancing them from their original meanings. The artist aims to strip cakes of their conventional role as “edible” objects, transforming them into a language, a metaphor, an event, an experience, and an image through which she examines her connection to the world.

Merav Shinn Ben-Alon