“All the wise came, those who do all the work of holiness; each one with their own work which they had done” (Exodus 36:4)
I grew up in a family of artists and Jewish educators. These two arenas — the world of the image, and the world of the word — have continued to shape my life and inspire my work.
I am primarily a text-based artist, working with calligraphy, illumination, letterpress printing, and other related techniques of bookmaking and textual art. My academic work in History, Anthropology, and Religion have all influenced my engagement with the many expressions of Jewish visual and textual culture. In particular, I am fascinated by the different forms of Jewish text — especially but not limited to those written with Hebrew letters — and their artistic elaborations. In my scholarship, I aim to recognize the power of books and book-making in connecting people across time and space, and my artistic practice harnesses that power in a contemporary context.
I am inspired by the description in Exodus of the people’s contribution to the building of the Mishkan-Dwelling [Tabernacle], where the artisans, craftspeople, and all those “of wise hearts” brought their contributions, and together created a visual and physical experience of holiness. It is an honour to continue this ancient project.