Zoya Cherkassky came to Haifa, Israel, from Kiev, following the fall of the Soviet Union—one of one million immigrants to come to Israel in the 1990s. Her paintings, with their bawdy, caricaturesque aesthetic, depict common scenes and cultural clashes—not necessarily drawn from personal experience, but rather collective stories and stereotypes—about the position of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants in their adopted homeland. Unsurprisingly, a few of her paintings have caused controversy while on show at the Israel Museum Jerusalem. This painting of meats and cheese—not considered kosher—is a more subtle nod to immigration integration problems in Israel.
