Dalia Meiri was born in 1951 in Moshav Moledet.
She graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in 1976 and continued her studies in marble sculpture in Carrara, Italy, the global center for marble. She later studied sculpture in hard stone in Austria and taught sculpture at Emek Yizra’el College and at Oranim College.
Meiri does not hesitate to draw inspiration from various, distant cultures, like the ancient Egyptians, the Japanese basalt statues, pre Columbian South American cultures and more.
Dalia Meiri’s works are characterized by being highly aware about the environment in which they are placed, and is usually based on a dialogue between art and the environment in which it is located.
Yet her works are considered ‘ very Israeli’, in the sense that she deals with issues related to Israel and its history.
Her sculptures are made mainly with local stone (she is even nicknamed ‘The Mother of Basalt’). She is influenced by the Canaanites movement ideology and refers to what is happening in Israel. Many of her works relate to ancient structures and are suggestive of early agricultural facilities.
Meiri also created several memorial sites across the country along with many outdoor sculptures.
She has displayed her works in many solo exhibitions and participated in important exhibitions and symposia around the world. She won the Colliner prize for young artists (1978) and a scholarship for studying Japanese garden design in Japan from the Sharet Foundation (1980).
Not far from the edge of the crater and parallel to it, Dalia Meiri placed five sets of rows of large flat stones that lean diagonally onto each other.
The initial association that arises from looking at the stones is of a tent, but at second glance, the feeling of instability increases as if they are about to collapse at any moment.
“The crater” Meiri says, referring to the geology of the crater, “is characterized by sharp diagonal shapes, which create a sense of instability, of excitement and of danger.”
Indeed, the rows of stones supporting each other, above all, emphasizes the image of geological structures, and metaphorically illustrates the mountain’s tremendous collapse that created the crater.
