Nice write-up in Northern California's "J"

[Excerpted from j., the Jewish news weekly of Northern California]

What could Moses, Abraham and Sarah possibly have in common with Superman, Wonder Woman and Wolverine?

In Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik’s art, at least, they all inhabit the same complex, colorful world — one in which caped crusaders and Jewish text engage with ease.

“So many of these characters and tropes were created by Jews. I look at these stories and I see metaphors for our existence, and metaphors for the Jewish experience,” he says. “Certainly a lot has been written about Superman representing an immigrant who’s trying to fit in, a model minority... I’m always just trying to figure out, how do I use these stories as a level of commentary? I can start off with an idea, but [comics] always help to take it further.”

A lifelong comic book fan who is married to a rabbi, Brynjegard-Bialik combines traditional papercutting techniques with collage to create intricate pieces whose inspirations span centuries, blurring the lines between graphic storytelling and decorative arts, pop culture and worship.

His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and in Israel. His new show — cheekily titled “You Did WHAT To My Comics?” — opens Sept. 9 at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael.

Read the rest of the article here.

Good and Evil

Detail from a new papercut that will be in my upcoming show.

Cutting up comics: a studio video

Shot with my GoPro — one hour of footage, which I edited down to this 2.5 minute video.

It features Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" as the soundtrack (the music to which all knife-related activities should be set).

On the table? A new papercut titled "Follow Me," which will premiere at my upcoming show at the Osher Marin JCC. Please join me at the opening reception on September 9, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the JCC. There will be free food, and local comics shop Blue Moon Comics will be bringing Jewish-created comics and graphic novels for your perusal and pleasure.

Big, juicy grapes

Detail from my "Rebel Spies" papercut, featuring a large cluster of grapes and a bit of Princess Leia.

You'll be able to see the whole thing (and lots more all-new work) in my upcoming show at the Osher Marin JCC. Please join me at the opening reception on September 9, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the JCC. There will be free food, and local comics shop Blue Moon Comics will be bringing Jewish-created comics and graphic novels for your perusal and pleasure.

"You did WHAT to my comics?!?" coming to Marin

The power of words

No title for this piece just yet. It's about the creation of the world and the power of words, and it features a lot of Black Bolt. I've got three close-up shots I took while I was making it, showing how it developed. You won't see Black Bolt here, however — just Metamorpho and The Watcher.

You'll be able to see the whole thing (and lots more all-new work) in my upcoming show at the Osher Marin JCC. Please join me at the opening reception on September 9, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the JCC. There will be free food, and local comics shop Blue Moon Comics will be bringing Jewish-created comics and graphic novels for your perusal and pleasure.

"Rainbow Over Ararat" adapted for tallit-like garment

It's raining, so this feels like a great post to put up today.

Last spring I created a Noah's Ark papercut titled "Rainbow Over Ararat" as a donation for the annual Temple Ahavat Shalom Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) fundraising luncheon.

I was contacted a short while ago by some folks at St Thomas' Church, Stockton Heath, in the United Kingdom. They were welcoming a new curate with a stole for her to wear, and wanted to make something with Noah's Ark as a theme. Joanne Ridley, the seamstress-artist, asked if she could use my papercut as a basis for the design. She offered to make a donation to the ECEC, and I said "go for it," and she's just finished it. That's the new curate, Lore Chumbley, wearing it in the photo above.

(The church TOTALLY looks like the Platonic ideal of an "old English church" and is, apparently, of historical interest.)

Here's what Joanne said about the process of making the stole:

Briefly, I tacked all the fabrics onto a foundation of muslin, then covered each "join" with a very narrow strip of white bias binding to replicate the papercut. I layered this up like a quilt and quilted through everything to hold it all in place then I (heart in mouth) cut it into the two pieces needed for the stole, sewed those together at the back neck edge and finally bound the edge with blue fabric to match the sky.  I did extend the waves downwards to make the balance right for the stole's length.

I think it's a beautiful adaptation of my work, and I'm so proud they wanted to use it. Here are some photos taken while the stole was being made, and one of the original papercut.