Gotham Golem

For some reason, though Batman is one of my favorite comic book characters, he doesn't wind up in many of my papercuts. That changes with this piece from my golem series. With a working title of "Gotham Golem," it measures 24" x 36" and it's made of cut-up Batman comics, focused in particular on Gotham City.

 

For me, the golem story is about protection and power. It's about making your own protector from whatever you have at hand, and hoping it doesn't grow beyond your control.

 The golem story is tied very closely to a sense of place – it's important where the material from which the golem is made comes from. As Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel took mud from the Vltava River in Prague to make his golem (spoiler alert: not a true story), the comics in my golem come from my childhood collection, and this golem is made of the city it is protecting.

 I can't wait to put this – and all of its companions – into an exhibition for you to see 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!

Arts, Provocation, and Jewish History

 Click here to listen as Aaron Henne and I discuss art, justice, comics, representation, and Judaism – and get a look at some new golems in my studio!

 

We're making a movie.

This is me in my studio, being put under the microscope of a movie camera. I'll be having a crew in the studio now and then for a little while, because they want to make a little movie about me. Exciting times!

Details about this, my upcoming shows, a big new commission, and plenty more to come – all right here on the blog.

Cutting up comics - what it looks like in my studio

There's something I really enjoy about visiting artists in their studios and seeing how they work – getting a peek at the process. When a visit is tricky, seeing pix of the process is a fine stand-in. That's why I try to share the occasional photo out here with you, so you can get a glimpse of what happens in my studio.

This is what a typical comic page looks like after I've been cutting it up for one of my papercuts. What you're seeing here is a few panels from Justice, Inc. - a 1989 DC title from Andrew Helfer and Kyle Baker. I'm at work on a commission which I can't talk about publicly just yet, but I can say that the title is important and I needed a lot of blue.

You can see how I've removed certain pieces which used a variation on the same blue; I'm piecing them together in this commission to create a mosaic effect.

This is really the piece to be thrown out... but sometimes the effect of dissection creates these interesting (accidental) works in negative, and I get attached to them.

Moving into my new studio: building my new table

I've just moved into a new home studio space, and I needed a new, bigger table to work on new, bigger papercuts. Luckily, I know someone who is a talented craftsman and – more importantly – was willing to help me make a table from scratch.

Seriously – we bought lumber and everything.

This was a first for me – I cut paper, but usually not wood. Alan helped me plan what the table would look like based on what I needed it to do – and we started by buying a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood, oak  for the edges, and all sorts of other stuff. He, of course, had all the tools we'd need.

Like this power saw. Yeah, he did a lot of the work – but showed me how to use some great tools, and taught me a lot about quality woodworking. Alan? Definition of the master woodworking perfectionist – no detail too small to be done exactly right. Once we had the board the right size, we added oak edges and drilled for the legs.

In this photo of the underside of the table you can see the pocket holes Alan made with a big, heavy machine made specifically for the purpose – that's how we attached the edges without having any holes in the exterior; it's all hidden underneath.



I'm drilling holes for the legs, which are made to adjust from about 30" to 40" – allowing my plenty of flexibility as I determine the height at which I want to work... and allowing me to change my mind if I wish. Perhaps I'll like cutting at one height, and assembling backgrounds at another... who knows?

The top of the table is a laminate which we glued and rolled on – the trickiest part of the process. Alan and I were glad we got the top on with no bubbles, no bumps, no problems at all. I won't be cutting on the surface – that's what cutting matts are for – but it's a great durable white surface that's easy to clean.



The finished table is 3' x 6', and it looks great in my new studio.

Thanks to Alan, I couldn't be happier with my new table (and my new space) – now I've just got to get the last of my shelving in, put up some track lights, and it'll be the perfect studio.