All Hands on Deck: Fingerprint Mosaics at Camp Newman

You may have already read the whole story – how this summer at URJ Camp Newman my wife (Rabbi Shawna B2) and I led campers in the creation of new tallitot (prayer shawls) for the camp, one session at a time.

Each tallit is a fingerprint mosaic, where each camper had a chance to add their personal mark. The idea was that fingerprints are personal, but combined together they create a mosaic-like pattern, creating a communal work rather than an individual one — and that it would take the fingerprints of the whole eidah (session) to create a finished work. (And a big thank-you to Rabbi Laura Novak Winer, who worked with us on all of these talliot!)

If you haven't read that post, please go check it out on the camp blog: https://campnewman.org/2018/07/06/all-hands-on-deck-fingerprint-mosaics-at-camp-newman/. But here's something the post  doesn't have: pictures of all of the finished tallitot, which we're pleased to share here.

Avodah is dedicated to community involvement and social justice,
so their tallit is a rainbow flag they took to the 2018 Pride Festival

Tzofim's tallit is a Jerusalem skyline, complete with turrets and archways.

Rishonim is out "nature" session, so they made a tree – with a branch for each of their twelve "tribes."

Bogrim made the seven species: grapes, dates, wheat, barley, figs, olives, and pomegranates.

The CITs are celebrating "C-CHAI-T" this year so their handprints surround a chai, with advisors' hands blessing them from the sides. (This shot is the ALMOST-done tallit; we were waiting for two late arrivals to complete it.)

Hagigah's tallit is an abstract representation of waves,
in honor of Camp Newman's first summer "by the bay."

Faculty and staff made a tallit as well – "Miriam's Well," with a quote from Amos 5:24:
"Let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

And if you want more information on what we can do with your community, check us out on the web at www.PaperMidrash.com.

Fear Not (Zebulon)

 Fear Not (Zebulon)
11" x 14"
Mixed media
2017


America Chavez is the queer Latina hero whose comics make up this papercut featuring a sailing ship, symbol of the tribe of Zebulon. Chavez takes the name Miss America, and wears the stars and stripes. She has superhuman strength and durability, the power of flight, and the power to kick open holes in reality, allowing her and her teammates to travel through the multiverse and into other realities, which here alludes to the traditional view of Zebulon as travelers.

Each of the papercuts in the series is made from cut-up comics featuring minority super heroes, in an effort to focus on these less-frequently heard voices, and to celebrate them. At the same time, I think about this series as voices of American dissent, at a time when we must all stand together and speak up against evil to ensure that our vision of a more perfect union remains intact.

Some of the tribes are still available for purchase (but many are gone!); giclée prints of all twelve are available on my store site. Please contact me if you want more information.

"Spring up, o well!" – Camp Newman's newest mosaic

This "Miriam's Well" mosaic just made its debut at URJ Camp Newman, just in time for the 2016 "Mark and Peachy Levy Hagigah Festival of the Arts," and I'm so proud of the work that the campers (and faculty!) put in to make this beautiful new addition to camp. And you want to know how we did it? I'm glad to share a little bit of our process, in words and pictures. PLENTY of pictures... but first a little introduction.

I've got to express my sincere thanks to my Dream Lab comrades, especially our fearless leader Dr. Miriam Heller Stern, and acknowledge that this mosaic was made possible with a generous contribution from The Covenant Foundation.

Second, maybe you're not familiar with Hagigah? The Hagigah program at URJ Camp Newman is the premier Jewish arts teen program on the West Coast. Campers choose majors and minors in visual and performing arts, studying with distinguished Jewish artists in an exploratory and collaborative atmosphere. This was my tenth summer at Camp Newman (I do a two-week residency every year), where my wife is one of the faculty rabbis, and where my three kids have been going every summer as well.

So – how'd we start the mosaic? I had only just arrived at camp, and Camp Newman Executive Director Ruben Arquilevich took me on a little walk to a spot by the newest cabins, where we admired a new water bottle refilling station... and the blank wall surrounding it. "How about right here?" he asked, and I had my goal: to design a mosaic to fit in the space physically and thematically.

I had about 16 campers working with me in our one-hour-per-day mosaic workshop, and our first discussion was devoted to developing our theme. I'd printed out several texts on water from traditional sources, and after quite a bit of discussion and debate we settled on Miriam's Well as our subject.

While the Jewish people wandered through the wilderness they were accompanied by a wondrous well which would provide water for them at every resting-place. God created this well for the sustenance of the Israelites in recognition of the merits of Miriam, which is how it gets its name. The well followed them on all their wanderings — and wherever they halted, it halted, too, settling in position opposite the Tabernacle. The leaders of the twelve tribes would appear and chant to it, “Spring up, o well,” and water would gush forth from its depths, and shoot up high as pillars, then discharge itself into great streams. These streams demarcated areas for each of the twelve tribes to camp in, and were so powerful that people were obliged to make use of ships to visit one another. The water led beyond the encampments, where it caused to grow every conceivable kind of plant and tree; and these trees, owing to the miraculous water, daily bore fresh fruits.

The final sketch – only 5" wide!

I sketched out numerous approaches in my little black sketchbook, eventually sharing the final design with my campers, who unanimously approved, and once I had it sketched out on our Hardie boards – two separate boards, one for each side of the water bottle refilling station, each measuring 30" tall and 5' wide – the campers began to lay white tiles along the design outlines.

The design drawn out on the two boards

The first tiles in place!

Campers laying in the outlines

The left panel with outlines complete

The fun began once the outlines were complete, and we got to start laying the colored tile – bit of broken storebought tile, some purchased online, and some donated by a local ceramics place. I decided on a limited palette – mostly blues and greens – and even found a few special touches that we'd figure out along the way.

Campers chose which tile types and colors to use

I found these ceramic letter tiles online, and knew I'd want them for something...

So it was time to get to work – piece by piece, section by section. I showed the campers how to follow along the outlines already tiled in white, and suggested they follow the contours, but otherwise they had free reign to pick tiles and colors as they wanted... with me looking over their shoulders and making the occasional suggestion.

Following the contours of the outlines

Campers would sometimes lay in the tiles before applying tile adhesive

Nearly 30 square feet to cover with tile, in about eight one-hour sessions – a bit daunting!

But we were making good progress

Look at those serious, working faces!

Look at those happy, smiling faces!

But it wasn't just the Hagigah campers who got to have fun – I invited camp faculty (clergy, educators, office and medical staff, and even Ruben!) to join us for a "Faculty Mosaic Night." It helped everyone feel better about the timeline... the campers were glad to have the assistance!

Rabbis, cantors, educators, medical and nefesh staff... and more!

Even with all this help, the campers still had PLENTY to do to finish it up

One of the other Hagigah artists – Sarah Edelstein – agreed to hand-letter two tiles for us with our text source from the book of Numbers.

And I found a use for the letter tiles – the campers REALLY wanted the mosaic to say "Hagigah 16," and this worked perfectly!

Look sideways and you'll see it

Here's Sarah's lettering close-up, in the finished mosaic

Another detail from the completed mosaic

I'm so proud of everyone who contributed to the mosaic, and so pleased to have been given the opportunity to create this for Camp Newman.

The finished mosaic, mounted in place

Justice; justice you shall pursue!

Earlier this year I completed a large commission that I mean to share out here in the blogosphere, but never did... so here it is! It was for a lawyer commissioned by his wife as a surprise gift marking 30 years in his own practice. And since we're all friends out here, I will tell you his name is Barry (that'll be relevant at a certain point).

In the Book of Amos we read the words, “Let justice roll down like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5:24). The verse brings to mind a waterfall, with justice rolling down from above and spreading out in abundance in all directions on the earth. To represent Barry’s commitment to justice — to a life dedicated to ensuring it flows to all — I have created a papercut waterfall, with water cascading down and expanding in whirls and swirls. In the falling water are multiple instances of the Hebrew word for justice, tzedek, which also brings to mind the words in Deuteronomy which tell us, tzedek tzedek tirdof: “justice; justice you shall pursue.” At the top of the papercut, the source of this justice is seen in cut-up sections from Rashi’s commentaries on two relevant sections of the Torah: Shemot (Exodus) 20, which includes the ten commandments, and Vayikra (Leviticus) 19, which is known as the Holiness Code, and addresses the legal details of fair wages and employment as understood by our sages (Barry's particular areas of focus).

The papercut is backed with cut-up comics featuring the Justice League and Justice Society (most noticeable in the words “justice” placed behind the falling water) and Daredevil — a lawyer by day and costumed superhero by night, bringing justice to those that cannot find it in the legal system. It's is Barry's firm sense of ethics that I am representing through the heroes of these comics — who respect the law, but even more seek the justice it promises. There are also some pieces from Flash comics, whose titular hero’s alter ego also serves the law and is known to his friends as Barry (see? told you it would be relevant).

The background comics include:

Justice #3 (Feb 2006)
Justice, Inc. (Books One and Two, 1989)
Justice League #15 (Feb 2013)
Justice League of America #39 (Jan 2010)
Justice League Europe #20 (Nov 1990), #28 (Jul 1991)
Justice Society of America #16 (Jul 2008)
JLA: Classified #15 (Oct 2006), #24 (May 2007), #26 (Jul 2007)
Daredevil #51 (Nov 2003) #14-16 (Aug - Oct 2012), #27 (Aug 2013), #29 (Sep 2013), #1 (May 2014)
Flash #309 (May 1982), #18 (Nov 1988), #242 (Sep 2008)
Flashpoint #1 (Jul 2011)

Justice
24" x 36"
Mixed media
2014

And All the Women Went

This is a new papercut titled "And All the Women Went" — a phrase taken from a scrap of a book incorporated into the background. It's a vision of the parting of the Sea of Reeds, with the sea pushed up into walls of water surrounding the children of Israel on their exodus from Egypt. The background also includes pieces of the following comics:

Wonder Woman
Unwritten
Echo
Revival
Moon Knight
Last of the Greats

I made this piece for the Temple Ahavat Shalom Sisterhood Luncheon this past weekend, where it was auctioned off to raise money for the sisterhood.

"Sacred Words, Sacred Texts" features twelve B2 papercuts; please join me at the reception.

Please join me in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 13, from two to five pm, for the opening reception of “Sacred Words, Sacred Texts” – an exhibition in collaboration with American Jewish University,
USC Hillel and Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion/LA.

I am pleased to have 12 papercuts included in this exciting exhibition, many on loan from local collectors.

The reception starts at 2 pm at Hebrew Union College (3077 University Avenue, Los Angeles – 213 749 3424) and at some point wanders down to the USC site for dessert.

For details, visit the Facebook invitation page – and please "like" my fan page to get regular updates in your Facebook feed.

The exhibition runs through mid-December 2013.

Miriam's Well – Embrace the Possibilities

I'm very pleased to share with you a photo of my latest completed papercut — "Miriam's Well"— a commission celebrating and honoring the outgoing president at my synagogue, Temple Ahavat Shalom. It measures 26" x 40" and, as usual, features cut-up comics.

While the Jewish people wandered through the wilderness they were accompanied by a wondrous well which would provide water for them at every resting-place. God created this well for the sustenance of the Israelites in recognition of the merits of Miriam, which is how it gets its name. The well followed them on all their wanderings — and wherever they halted, it halted, too, settling in position opposite the Tabernacle. The leaders of the twelve tribes would appear and chant to it, “Spring up, o well,” and water would gush forth from its depths, and shoot up high as pillars, then discharge itself into great streams. These streams demarcated areas for each of the twelve tribes to camp in, and were so powerful that people were obliged to make use of ships to visit one another. The water led beyond the encampments, where it caused to grow every conceivable kind of plant and tree; and these trees, owing to the miraculous water, daily bore fresh fruits.

This president has dedicated her time a similar nurturing of the synagogue community (as well as the larger community), welling forth with tikkun olam and justice. Her leadership has sustained this community, and helped to create an environment in which everyone can “embrace the possibilities.”

The water of the well is backed with cut-up comic books featuring famed female comic book leaders and heroes, notably Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl. Within the swirls of color can be found speech bubbles that reflect on her presidency and her dedication to helping others.

The well is represented by the hint of a Torah scroll from a synagogue brochure, while the twelve spaces surrounding the well represent the twelve tribes, and are backed with cut-up temple materials. Above and below the well and the tribes are desert landscapes created from cut-up comics and photographic imagery of the desert in which the Israelites wandered.

Inundación

This is "Inundación," a new papercut I'm premiering this Saturday night at Brave New World Comics, as part of my new show: "You did WHAT to my comics?!?"

The story of the flood pervades many cultures across the globe. "Inundación" draws from Biblical narrative and Mesoamerican iconography, backed almost entirely by cut-up pieces from the 2008 trade edition of Jack Kirby’s mid-70s comic book series "The Eternals." The one exception is a snippet of text from LIFE Nature Library: The Sea published by Time-Life Books in 1972.

For more details about the show, click here.

"Fantastic Exodus" showing in Northern California

"Fantastic Exodus" is one of the new works in my one-man show at the Peninsula JCC in Foster City, California. I'll be leading a gallery tour and making a brief presentation this Sunday, February 10; visit the PJCC website for details on the show or to reserve your spot.

In this papercut, the members of the Fantastic Four (from left to right: Reed, Ben, Johnny, and Sue) represent the four elements (water, earth, fire and air) and four of the elements of Israel’s journey from slavery to freedom (crossing the Sea of Reeds, gathering at Sinai, and being protected by the pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day). As usual, the work is backed with cut-up comics representing these characters and themes:

• Fantastic Four #15 (Jun 1963), 17 (Aug 1963), 21 (Dec 1963), 23 (Feb 1964), 248 (Nov 1982), 265 (Apr 1984), Annual #18 (1984), 282 (Sep 1985), 286 (Jan 1986), 290 (May 1986), 296 (Nov 1986), 297 (Dec 1986), 305 (Aug 1987), 314 (May 1988), 544 (May 2009), 587 (Mar 2011)
• Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure #1 – Apr 2008
• Fantastic Four: Flesh and Stone – 2000
• Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #34 – May 2008
• The Last Fantastic Four Story #1 – Oct 2007
• Fantastic Four 2099 #6 – Jun 1996
• Fantastic Five: The Final Doom #1-5 – 2007
• The Thing vol. 1 #22 – Apr 1985
• The Thing vol. 2 #2 – Feb 2006, 7 – Jul 2006
• Hulk and Thing: Hard Knocks #1 – Nov 2004
• Ultimate Fantastic Four #3 – Mar 2004, 5 – May 2004, 10 – Oct 2004, 42 – Jul 2007

Getting Ready for September Show

My next show opens Sunday, September 9, at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael, California — and I'm cutting and cutting and cutting these days, finishing up work. Here's a detail from a piece I just completed titled "Shamayim"; it'll be at the show, and I hope you will be as well.

Mazal tov!

Here's the happy couple signing their ketubah — mazal tov to Michael and Michael!

Completed commission: "Visions of Johanna"

It's Bob Dylan's birthday today, and what better day to share my latest completed commission: "Visions of Johanna," a portrait of Dylan couched in the metaphor of the story of Jonah — they have both been called reluctant prophets, and they both have their visions.

The visions of Jonah came as he sat in the belly of the big fish which swallowed him. He had saved the fish from its destined death by the Leviathan, and midrash tells us that in return the fish took him on a journey through time and space — showing him the origin of the oceans, the path of the Israelites through the Red Sea, the beginning of breakers and waves, the pillars of the earth, and much more. These visions are represented by the textures and shapes within the big fish of this papercut, while it is behind these lines that Dylan’s visions are shown.

Represented through various salvaged papers, photographs, and textures, including pieces of The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, are representations of lyrics from Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna” — a handful of rain, the ghost of electricity, small talk at the wall, infinity up on trial, jewels and binoculars, the nightingale’s code, whispering and muttering...

There are fragments from the book of Jonah from a volume of Tanakh originally destined for ritual burial in the genizah. There are glimpses of album covers of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” and “Blonde on Blonde,” from which the song “Visions of Johanna” is taken.

There’s a piece of sheet music and handwritten lyrics scattered through the waves. There’s a bit of Dylan Thomas (from “Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait”), from whom Dylan took his surname. There’s a map, constellations, a reference to Woody Guthrie, a miniature figure of the prophet/musician himself... and more.

It is a raucous, wild, portrait of the artist through the metaphor of Tanakh and midrash, designed to illuminate Dylan’s character and encourage exploration of his lyrics and influence.

Latz-Simon Ketubah: Mt. Rainier, Victoria Falls, and Metzada

 

This week I finished my latest papercut ketubah, and I've just heard that the couple received it... so now I can share some pictures here on my blog!

As with all of my ketubot, I spent some time talking with the couple to get a sense of who they are and how to represent them at this time in their life together. They told me about their love of travel and their love of Israel, about where they've been and where they're going.

The entire ketubah is sheltered with a stylized hupah of the Seven Species, and under the text are three "heights" that represent their lives: Mt. Rainier (lower left), Victoria Falls in Rhodesia (lower right), and Metzada (directly under the text) -- you can see close-ups of the landscape images below. The backgrounds are composed of handmade textured papers, maps, some old science and nature books, and -- of course -- some comic books.

And what a great coincidence that this ketubah -- for two fine Jewish gentlemen -- should be completed the same week that President Barack Obama declared his support of marriage equality!

As always, click on any of the pix (above or below) to see them larger.