In this exhibition, Shani continues to develop her distinctive visual language, which she uses to probe the dissonance between childlike innocence and the forceful, violent reality that surrounds us. Her objects are based on childhood toy models that undergo various manipulations—some are deflated and positioned in unexpected ways, while others are grotesquely enlarged. Toys meant to embody playfulness and light-hearted mischief become, in their magnified versions, threatening and distorted, generating a sense of absurdity and unease

 

.In his book Mythologies, Roland Barthes argues that the toy is a miniature model of the adult world, preventing the child from inventing a new reality and instead compelling them to reproduce the existing one. The toy thus becomes a vehicle for transmitting values, ideologies, and cultural scripts. When dealing with toy weapons and combat gear, the message is unmistakable: the world is a stage of conflict, and the child learns their role as a small soldier within a larger system. In a country like Israel, where military service is an inseparable part of the life path, this subtext gains additional weight and intensifies the experience of encountering art that addresses these themes.