Shraga Landesman, born in Israel, studied painting and sculpture at the Oranim College of Art, and Tel-Hai College. After extensive travel in Europe and being exposed to the origins of Western culture, he began his studies at Haifa University concentrating on small scale sculptures. Searching for new challenges, Shraga took up some courses in gold and silversmithing. He found a new way of expression in art and craftsmanship. His constant urge for expressing his artistic talent let him to design and creation of ceremonial Judaica. Shraga's spiritual inspirations are the Bible and the ancient cultures which exist in the region -the world that is disappearing. Shraga states in one of his interviews "I confront this world my way, trying to decode familiar codes from those magical objects that those cultures left behind." From the time he began the art of sculpting, Shraga always worked on small articles, attempting to express something large in small dimensions. In the process of creating small sculptures, he felt that he could identify with the tribal artists -the artisans that he knew through the magical objects they had left behind. Yet, he felt that he lacked the religious or ritual dimension that the tribal artists possessed. Shraga says: "Once I explored the realm of Judaica design and creations that were close to my roots and tradition, I felt that at last the circle is complete." Shraga's unique creations in Jewish functional and ceremonial objects put him at par with the tribal artists. Shraga Landesman's creations in functional Judaica are featured in several museums, galleries and fine craft-stores in Israel, Europe and the United States: Israel Museum - Jerusalem, Israel Tel-Aviv Museum - Tel-Aviv, Israel The Jewish Museum - Paris, France The Jewish Museum - New York City, NY The Craft Museum - New York City, NY