Welcome aboard, Gabriel!

Yesterday we welcomed a new member of the Jewish community – Gabriel Max Roher-Smith – with a ritual brit at the home of his parents. I was pleased to be able to make this papercut marking the date of his birth and to present it to his parents at the simcha.

The rainbow bands are made of cut-up comics featuring (in descending order) Spider-Man, The Thing, Kid Flash, Hulk, and Superman.

Doctrine of Law

This is "Doctrine of Law," a papercut I made for the silent auction at Temple Ahavat Shalom's gala this year. The gala and auction are being held this Sunday, June 2, and support temple activities throughout the year. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, or if you want more information about the auction, click here. A full list of auction items is available as a PDF.

"Doctrine of Law" is an exploration of the role of Torah – the "tree of life" – in our lives, in the past and present. I see Torah as a living document, one that must be read and reread and continuously interpreted and understood for each generation; the tree will always be an appropriate metaphor for Torah. It's backed with cut-up comics and a snippet from Ye That Thirst by David Hausdorff, published by Shulsinger Brothers in Brooklyn in 1940; that snippet is how this cut got its name.

Oppenheimer

It's hard to believe the end of another show is already almost here. Figured I'd share a photo of one more piece – it's called "Oppenheimer."

Upon seeing the first test of the atom bomb, which he helped create, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer said these words from the Hindu scriptural epic, Bhagavad Gita. The power of the atom has given us good and bad, and we see a dichotomy of intention and result in the character of the Hulk, whose comics are cut up to make this background of this papercut. There’s one snippet that’s not the Hulk: the Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan makes an appearance as well. It includes:

•    Incredible Hulk #21 (Jun 2001) – John Romita, Jr.; #38 (May 2002)
•    Incredible Hulk #9 (Aug 2012) – Michael Komarck
•    The Incredible Hulk #240 (Oct 1979), #310 (Aug 1985), #448 (Dec 1996)
•    World War Hulk: Front Line #1 (Aug 2007), #5 (Dec 2007)
•    Marvel Fanfare #29 (Nov 1986) – John Byrne
•    Hulk #11 (Jun 2009) – Ed McGuinness
•    Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1 (Jul 2008)
•    The Essential Hulk Volume One (1999) – Bruce Timm
•    Indestructible Hulk #6 (Jun 2013) – Walt Simonson
•    Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks #2 (Dec 2004)
•    Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #5 (Mar 2013) – Jae Lee

A color catalog of all works on display is available for download as a PDF here.

"Number Theory"

I'm pleased to be donating a papercut to ANOTHER fundraising auction happening tomorrow – this one being held at Brave New World Comics on Free Comic Book Day (tomorrow, May the Fourth) to support the Newhall Public Library!

"Number Theory" is built on a structure of the ten basic Hindu-Arabic numerals (0123456789), and it's about the power of individuals working together. Each person has their particular strengths and skills and backgrounds, and they become magnified by the presence of others. We can all be heroes, and so the background texture for the cut is a collection of superheroes, representing the strength of diversity.

Interested in bidding? You do NOT have to be present to bid; just call the shop at 661 259 4745!

Number Theory
10" x 18"
Mixed media

Photos from the PJCC gallery tour

My thanks and appreciation go out to everyone who joined me for the gallery tour yesterday at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center.

I had a wonderful time talking with you about art and Judaism, and I'm especially pleased I got to meet those of you who have been purchasing work from the show. I signed some prints and waved my hands around, talked with old friends and made some new ones.

There are still works available for purchase; check out the catalog here to see everything in the show, alongside descriptions of each piece and listings of the comics I cut up to make them – and contact me if you're interested in acquiring a piece.

Incredible Little Tree: "...knowledge and danger can grow from the same soil."

Incredible Little Tree

12" x 16"

Mixed media

2012

This papercut highlights the tug between two extremes: the desire to know, and the desire to live. In the Garden of Eden our ancestors were told to eat freely of the tree of life, but not to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This tree, backed with cut-up Hulk comics, explores the idea that knowledge and danger can grow from the same soil.

To make this piece I cut up a bunch of comics, including:

• The Incredible Hulk #2 – July 1962 (reprint), 240 – Oct 1979,
  280 – Feb 1983, 295 – May 1984, 296 – Jun 1984, 448 – Dec 1996
• Incredible Hulk #78 – Apr 2005
• Giant-size Incredible Hulk #1 – Jul 2008
• Hulk #4 – Aug 2008
• Ultimate Hulk Annual #1 – Dec 2008 

Now showing at the Peninsula JCC in Foster City, California – it's one of my many new works in the show, which will be open from January 4 through March 19, 2013.

Happy Tu B'shevat from Nice Jewish Artist

The first ever (?) steampunk papercut: "Brave New World"

I'm happy to share a photo of my latest papercut with you, made as a gift for Portlyn and Atom!, the fine folks who helped bring you my latest show at Brave New World Comics. It's about them, so there are no doubt a few references that may go over one's head, but I believe the piece is nonetheless aesthetically pleasing. It includes bits and pieces of:

X-Men 179
OMAC
Ultimate Secret 3
Ultimate Extinction 3
White Tiger (trade book)
Superman 330 (1978)
Hulk 280 (1983)
Marvel Team-up 40 and 46 (1976)
ROM 27 (1982)
Fantastic Four 233 (1981) and 282 (1985)
Avengers 229 (1983)

Happy Sukkot from Nice Jewish Artist

Happy Sukkot! We B2s are busy getting our sukkah into shape, looking forward to a week of harvest fun; how about you?

The two shows are going well. We've already sold most of the work at Brave New World Comics, gotten a lot of great traffic at the Finegood Galley, and have gotten some good press. I thank you all for your support and interest. If you've been hoping to have a chance to own one of my comic book / papercutting mash-ups, this is your chance -- come on down to either one of the shows and check out what everyone's talking about!

Check out the show catalog from Brave New World Comics

Want to see what you're missing? Click here to view a PDF catalog of the works currently being shown in "You did WHAT to my comics?!?!" at Brave New World Comics.

"MOSES SMASH!" at GeekWeek.com

The fine folks at GeekWeek.com have a brief review of the opening we held at Brave New World Comics this weekend -- please check it out. Excerpt:

"...taking the Hebrew from Darth Vader's chest plate, mixing in a little Darkseid, and cutting up some Final Crisis might be a bit of a stretch, or it might be awesome."

"You did WHAT to my comics?" -- Details on Show at Brave New World

“You did WHAT to my comics?”
Fine Art Mash-up ∙ New Work by Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik

Opening Reception at Brave New World Comics
on Saturday, September 11, from 7 to 10 pm

Show Open from September 11 through October 9

Brave New World Comics
22722 Lyons Avenue
Newhall, CA 91321
661-259-4745

"Incredible" Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Yesterday I finished a new papercut of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil from the Garden of Eden -- I call it "incredible" because the background texture comprises cut-up pieces of comics featuring "The Incredible Hulk."


In this piece I'm exploring the double-edged knowledge humankind gets from exploiting the atom -- on the one hand, the potential for great power, and on the other, the potential for great destruction; ask Dr. Bruce Banner about the negative side, and you'll get it.

The shape of the tree is partial allusion to a mushroom cloud, and it's filled with the Hulk (and foliage) from a wide-ranging collection of comics -- including the work of Jack Kirby in the first Hulk comics all the way up through recent storylines like "World War Hulk."

You'll find a few different fruits (keeping with the rabbis' suggestion that we don't specifically identify which tree it was in order to avoid embarrassing it), and as usual I've also thrown in a few caption bubbles. Here are a few detail shots (click the pix below to see them larger) -- but if you want to see it live (and really, there's no better way to appreciate it), stay tuned for details on my upcoming Fall show at Brave New World Comics in Santa Clarita.