Cutting up in New Jersey

 What a lovely story in The Jewish Standard about the work that Rabbi Shawna and I are doing as Paper Midrash – and in particular the work we're doing with Temple Emeth in New Jersey.

 

Cleveland "Guests" Portraits for Sukkot 2020

 Last year at this time Rabbi Shawna and I were in Cleveland with the community of The Temple-Tifereth Israel, praying and studying and creating and celebrating Sukkot (check out what that was like). This year we had the opportunity to be back in Cleveland.... virtually. We joined them today for some visual text study about Sukkot and "the guests you can still have in your sukkah" (ushpizin and ushpizot), and for a sneak peek at what's going on in my studio.

I also shared with the TTTI community three new portraits I just completed, inspired by the upcoming virtual visit: three guests I'd invite to join me in the sukkah. Last year I added four guests to the traditional seven patriarchs and matriarchs: Cleveland's own Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman; Rabbi Sally Preisand, a Cleveland native who is America's first female rabbi (and visited the gallery to see her portrait!); and Golda Meir, Israel's first female prime minister.

This year's three new guests all have Cleveland connections. The first one is Simson Thorman, the first Jewish permanent resident of Cleveland, an immigrant from Bavaria who was a founder of the city's first Jewish congregation and the first Jew to serve on the Cleveland City Council. His portrait is made with cut-up comics featuring Nightcrawler, another German immigrant.

 

Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver is beloved by TTTI because he was their rabbi for 46 years starting in 1917. He was an early champion of rights for labor, for worker's compensation and civil liberties, though his highest priorities were to advance respect for and support of Zionism. 

 

My portrait of Silver is made of cut-up Superman comics focused on Perry White and the Daily Planet offices, inspired by his fighting for workers’ rights, and the renewed understanding 2020 has given us of the importance of those who work in the press and other fields essential to our emotional, political, and physical well-being.

 

My portrait of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is made of cut-up She-Hulk comics (she’s a super hero and her alter ego Jennifer Walters is a lawyer focused on defendants’ rights).

 

I wanted to capture the fight that “the notorious RBG” (in her "dissent collar") and *all* of us are engaged in for justice for all.

The portrait includes text from the Book of Judges (on Deborah), the text from Deuteronomy on “Tzedek Tzedek tirdof,” some Justice League comics, and pieces of an RBG comic book biography.

Can't wait to get back to Cleveland in person.

Studio Stories – Kol Haot

  

​As the global health pandemic continues to change artists’ lives and practice, Chicago-based artist Lilach Schrag is sharing stories of how artists have adapted to lockdown and the new reality, in a series called “Studio Stories 2020,” hosted by Kol HaOt. This week they profiled my work during lockdown, including my golem series and how Rabbi Shawna and I have been trying to keep Paper Midrash going. Check it out!

Paper Midrash in Lafayette (no, not the one from Hamilton)

Just wanted to quickly post a few photos from our Paper Midrash residency at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, California. Rabbi Shawna and I gave a visual sermon on "People of the Comic Book" and we used our "Paper T'filah Visual T'filah" for Friday night services, had an oneg Shabbat scavenger hunt with some of my work, led an adult papercutting workshop, and even had the religious school get into the fun with our exclusive "Fold-and-Cut Torah" lesson plan!

"Paper T'filah Visual T'filah" in Erev Shabbat services

Oneg Shabbat Scavenger Hunt

Making Paper Midrash with Rabbi Shawna

Rabbi Nicki Greninger made Paper Midrash in our workshop

We had a great group in our adult papercutting workshop

Paper Midrash made by Karen, a workshop participant

Paper Midrash made by Nathan, workshop participant

Paper Midrash made by Rabbi Greninger

Men of Steel and Women of Valor

This fall I opened a new exhibition at The Temple Museum of Jewish Art, Religion, and Culture in Cleveland called "Men of Steel and Women of Valor," and I've been keeping you posted here (and on Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram) but as the exhibition comes to a close it seemed appropriate to put everything up in one place – right here on my blog. (You can also read about it in The Forward or the Cleveland Jewish News.)

Standing in the gallery – in my Superboy shirt, of course.

At the heart of the exhibition is a series of large portraits made of cut-up comic books featuring Superman and Lois Lane, Daredevil and Elektra, the Fantastic Four — transformed into the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs, as well as modern figures. These portraits are a nod to the Jewish custom of inviting guests into one’s sukkah during the fall festival of Sukkot, since we opened the exhibition just before Sukkot. In fact, Rabbi Shawna and I went to The Temple-Tifereth Israel for a Paper Midrash weekend to coincide with the exhibition, praying and teaching and creating all weekend with the community.

Rabbi Shawna and I led a bunch of papercutting workshops during our Paper Midrash weekend

We led a number of projects to create new art for the walls of the TTTI sukkah

Teaching in "the birthplace of Superman"

The exhibition focused heavily on Superman, created in Cleveland in the 1930s by two Jews, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — portraits of whom are included in the show, made of cut-up Superman comics from the past 90 years. You can see the whole show online in this PDF catalog, or check out the pix below.

"Abraham: Ignition" is made with cut-up Fantastic Four comics featuring patriarch Reed Richards

"Sarah: Forward" is made with cut-up Fantastic Four comics featuring matriarch Sue Storm Richards

"Isaac: Hurt" is made of comics featuring blind vigilant super hero Daredevil

"Rebekah: Someone" is made of comics featuring ninja badass Elektra

"Jacob:Disguise" is made of Clark Kent comics (and a little bit of Loki)

"Leah: Suppress" is made of comics featuring Lois Lane (and so is her sister)

"Rachel: Answers" is made of comics featuring Lois Lane (and so is her sister)

It also included portraits of Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister, and Sally Priesand, America’s first female rabbi. The portraits share the walls with landscapes of Jerusalem, stories of fire and water and cloud, and explorations of the Mishnah — all made out of cut-up comic books.

“Siegel: Chutzpah” is a portrait of Jerry Siegel, the writer who co-created Superman. Siegel is represented with cut-up comics featuring some of my favorite Superman writers from the past 90 years.

“Shuster: Action” is a portrait of Joe Shuster, the artist who co-created Superman, Shuster is represented with cut-up comics featuring some of my favorite Superman artists from the past 90 years.

“Priesand: My Turn” is a portrait of the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the United States, Sally Priesand.

“Meir: Fight” is a portrait of Golda Meir, the first woman to serve as Prime Minister of Israel.

You can see the whole show online in this PDF catalog. For more information on our residencies and workshops, visit PaperMidrash.com.

Paper Midrash in North Carolina

This year, since High Holidays, Rabbi Shawna and I have been in Manhattan (NY), North Hollywood (CA), Cleveland (OH), Milwaukee (WI)... and we're just getting started! This past weekend we were in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, bringing Paper Midrash to Temple Emanuel – and we had a great time, as usual.

Rabbi Mark Cohn leading Erev Shabbat services with "Paper T'filah Visual T'filah"

We started the weekend with a pop-up gallery for an intimate gathering of temple leadership, then in to services which Rabbi Mark Cohn led with "Paper T'filah Visual T'filah" (which I made in cooperation with CCAR Press).

Rabbi Shawna and I gave a visual sermon on this week's Torah portion, which we called "Lech L'cha: Boldly Go," which referenced Abraham and Sarah (of course) but also Star Trek, The Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and more.

Saturday morning we led a Paper Midrash workshop, in which participants created beautiful and meaningful midrashic interpretations of Lech L'cha, cutting up comic books just like I do in my studio.

God calls to Abram and Sarai: "Lech L'cha!"

Abraham is a super hero, surviving being thrown into the fire by Nimrod.

Sarah has her own super hero: she talks directly to God and saves Abraham!

Sarah being carried into Egypt by Abraham, disguised as his sister, IN A COFFIN.

 Saturday night Rabbi Shawna and I presented "People of the (Comic) Book," a visual history of Jews and comic books, from the very first comic book in the 1930s up to present-day Jewish creators and characters.

Ready to talk about the patriarchs: Jerome, Joseph, Stanley, and Jacob

It's such a fascinating subject, and we have so much fun revealing the semi-secret Jewish world behind Superman, Batman, the Marvel cinematic universe... so much good stuff.

Religious school students making "Fold-and-Cut Torah" projects in the Lamed Center

Sunday morning we brought our "Fold-and-Cut Torah" project to the Temple Emanuel religious school – Rabbi Shawna and I led a special program for the fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students and their parents, while the K-5 classes used our lesson plan to create their own Torah focused on the values held in common with comic books.

Learning and praying with the "Twelve Tribes" papercuts

Sunday ended with a special service for the religious school led by Rabbi Cohn that incorporated my papercuts, including my "Twelve Tribes" series – so proud to have my work used in this beautiful studying/praying/learning experience!

Want more information about bringing Paper Midrash to your community? Contact us at info@papermidrash.com for details.

Paper Midrash in the Windy City

Chillin' in Chicago at Cloud Gate (a.k.a the Bean)

We were worried about the cold. The temperature was going to be measured in single digits and, like true Southern Californians, we put on warm jackets when it dips below 65. We were concerned whether people would brave sub-freezing weather to make paper midrash with us... but they did! And it was great!

We led two workshops at Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, Illinois; one for adults and one for teens. The adults came for an evening of Havdalah, a little nosh, some teaching on Midrash, and cutting up comic books. Chicagoans are not stopped by cold weather; we had a big crowd, part of the vibrant adult education program at Etz Chaim.

Isaac teaching at Congregation Etz Chaim (and some participant artwork)

It was clear that participants were drawing on what they had studied in Melton and other programs; most participants were already familiar with what midrash is and they were ready to create their own.

Rabbi Shawna teaching at Congregation Etz Chaim (and some participant artwork)

The participants made some beautiful papercut explorations of the creation story in Torah and Midrash. Proving that pop culture is not just for kids, one couple even stumped Isaac with their favorite villain.

We got some great feedback from the group, like this: “Paper Midrash was fantastic! I love that we got to make a piece of art. I also enjoyed learning about the different types of interpretations from Torah, stories that fill in the gaps versus how Torah is put into practice. The presenters brought great energy and knowledge.”

Sunday morning we worked with the CEC high school teens. We brought lots of Spiderverse and Captain Marvel for the teens to work with and — again — we were pleased to see the depth of their designs and how even in working with the same story, no two designs were alike.

A beautiful place to teach teens about Midrash and art

More teen papercut artwork

In both groups there were multiple interpretations of a midrash in Talmud that says that trees talk to each other. We wondered if it was the experience of the seasons (something we don’t have the same way in California) that had people aware of the natural cycle of spring and  eagerly awaiting the the regrowth of trees.

Posing with the teen artists (and some more teen artwork)

We also led a workshop for the Jewish Federation and Jewish United Fund of Greater Chicago, at a fabulous communal space in the suburbs called Sketchpad, where a bunch of Jewish organizations share space for creative (and “regular”) pursuits.

Sketchpad was an incredible place to teach and create

We were so impressed with the concept for the space and how it was used; it was great to be able to work with talented and enthusiastic Jewish educators from different organizations, all under one roof.

With the group from Jewish Federation and Jewish United Fund of Greater Chicago

We loved learning about the space and the Jewish community in Chicago as much as we loved sharing midrash with the group. We always begin the creative part of our workshops with the blessing for creating art from On the Doorposts of Your House and were thrilled to introduce this prayer to Jewish educators, who were excited to bring it back to their own students.

Want more information about bringing Paper Midrash to your community? We’re currently scheduling residencies and workshops for the 2019-2020 academic year; contact us at info@papermidrash.com for details.