Artist's Statement
Over the years, the continuous creative collaboration of Talya Baharal and Gene
Gnida has had a broad and sweeping influence on each other's work. The artistic
and personal relationship flamed their innately intense curiosity and
attraction for working with new forms, materials and techniques. In 1988, they
decided to channel their creative energies together and as a team founded
Baharal-Gnida Designs. The confluence of Baharal's strong conceptual and design
sense and Gnida's creativity with sculptural forms and extensive technical
expertise has impacted their individual as well as collaborative efforts and
their work has evolved into gallery caliber pieces.
Both artists come to their careers in sculpture and art jewelry through
circuitous paths.
Born in Israel, Talya Baharal was exposed to art and design at an early age.
Her English mother, an artist and interior designer, nurtured Talya's
proclivity for design and recognized her intuitive ability to intermingle
ancient and contemporary elements.
In 1986, Talya founded her own jewelry company. By 1987, Saks Fifth Avenue
featured her as a designer in their jewelry department and catalog. Other
department stores and specialty shops followed. Her work was featured in Elle,
Vogue, Bazaar, The New York Times and other publications.
Baharal began her collaboration with Gene Gnida in the late 1980's. Their
artistic language melded instantly. By 1989, their work was accepted to the
Smithsonian Institution's annual craft show and the American Craft Council
juried shows. In the following years they also exhibited their work at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art craft show, American Craft Expo show in Evanston,
Ill, and Crafts at the Castle in Boston.
Gene Gnida designed a house and saw it built at age 16. He received his
bachelor's degree in History from Concordia University in Montreal, but found
himself drawn back to the world of art, sculpting in stone, bronze and wood.
Gnidašs work was shown in Canadian galleries, and in 1968, Bell Canada
sponsored a solo exhibition of Gnidašs sculptures at its pavilion at the
Montreal Expo fairgrounds.
Seeking to hone his woodworking craft further, Gnida studies in the early
1970's with Ian Kirby, the renowned founder of director of the Kirby School of
Design, then in Bennington, Vermont. By the mid 70's, Gnida had settled into a
career as a furniture designer and fine woodworker. In 1983, Fine Woodworking
Magazine chose his work for publication in its Design Book Series.
Throughout the 1990's Talya and Gene exhibited their work at well-known
galleries across the United States.
