Jewish Pop Art - Yitzchok Moully

Moully art in British GQ!

admin — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:08:26 +0000

Moully art in British GQ!

I’s super excited to share that my art is featured in the British version of GQ! here is what they had to say: “NY based Australian artist Yitzchok Moully is known for his bright bold colors and Pop Art style. As a Self-taught artist, Moully began as a photographer until he discovered silkscreen and then there was no looking back. Known as the Pop Art Rabbi Moully blends old word Jewish and Hassidic images in a modern Pop Style to create a unique and appealing style. Find his work at www.MoullyArt.com”

Counting the Omer; One Abstract Painting at a Time

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:26:22 +0000

As we get to the end of the Omer counting I’m glad to share a Press Release about the Abstract Omer Project:

Counting the Omer; One Abstract Painting at a Time

Rabbi Yitzchok Moully—Pop Art Rabbi—Debuts New Line of Artwork

By YQ Media

When spirituality, emotion and art merge, they create a trifecta that best expresses the soul, humanity and growth potential of a person. Artist and rabbi, Yitzchok Moully made it his mission to blend the three by fusing his love for abstract art with the spirituality and emotion inherent in each day and week of the Sefirat Ha’Omer, the counting of the 49 days between the Passover and Shavuot holidays, culminating in the celebration of the Jewish people receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai.

According to Kabbalah, each of the seven weeks, as well as each individual day, has its own unique quality and characteristic. According to kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, each day corresponds to two ‘sefirot,’ or human emotions – one corresponding to the week and another to the day itself. Rabbi Moully associates each emotion with a vibrant color, with each day represented by a unique piece of artwork consisting of a combination of two colors. The artwork for each day of the Omer is posted online after nightfall.

The Omer map under construction shows the 7 weeks of the Omer horizontally, with the spiritual color attributed to each week placed above it. The days of each week are organized from right to left, with each day represented by a different color as well.

For example, the artwork for Day 31, whose kabbalistic attribute is ‘Tiferet of Hod’—Beauty/Authenticity of Humility—is painted on a bright orange background, with a yellow, cyclone-like swirl occupying most of it. The caption reads, “Beauty, compassion, humility… internalize these traits, make them your own, and you will be one step close to becoming a complete person.”

On some days, Rabbi Moully has an idea in mind before descending to his basement studio to paint, but on others the emotions of the day find expression only after the paintbrush is already in hand. Current events influenced Day 23, a day dedicated to the victims of the previous day’s Boston marathon bombings. ‘Gevurah of Netzach’—Strength/Discipline of Victory/Endurance—was the spiritual attribute of that day’s Omer, and is represented by blood red spatters on a dark purple background. The caption describes how success in a marathon, as in life itself, requires endurance and discipline, both of which are even more necessary during tough times.

Rabbi Moully was born in Australia, and currently serves as a Chabad rabbi in New Jersey. He sees art as a way to make Judaism relevant to today’s youth and unaffiliated Jews. His passion for art began with photography and evolved into his current fascination with the expressive power of abstract art. His ability to convey ancient wisdom using modern forms of expression has earned him the title “Pop Art Rabbi.” His works have been exhibited in Philadelphia, New York, Melbourne, Venice and Toronto.

Rabbi Moully’s Omer project has been featured on The Huffington Post’s live Omer counting blog, and the rabbi was recently profiled in Mishpacha Magazine and has made an appearance on Oprah’s Next Chapter. Rabbi Moully’s art has succeeded in overriding cultural barriers and generating a positive perception of Orthodox and Chassidic Judaism.

Fans of the Pop Art Rabbi follow the Omer map as it develops and expands, and anxiously look forward to the completed project. Each day’s artwork can be viewed on the Jewish Pop Art website or on Facebook. Although Rabbi Moully has not yet decided on a final home for the project’s artwork after its completion, one thing is certain: they will not remain in Rabbi Moully’s basement for long.

For more information about The Pop Art Rabbi and his artwork, please visit www.MoullyArt.com.

Day 23 Abstract Omer Project Gevurah of Netzach.
Endurance requires lots of effort and determination. But we need to ask ourselves, is our endurance leaning up on the correct wall? Are we channeling that energy in the correct area of life?
We need discipline to keep our endurance on the right track. Day 31 of Abstract Omer Project Tiferet of Hod.
Beauty, compassion, humility… internalize these traits, make them your own, and you will be one step close to being a complete person.

New art project; The Abstract Omer

admin — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 04:42:51 +0000

This week we began a new cycle of counting the Omer counting the 49 days from Passover to Shavuot and the giving of the Torah.
While counting the days we have the opportunity to refine ourselves through reflecting on each of the 7 sefirot and their combinations of 7×7 = 49. Each day of the Omer representing a combination of the two sefirot. (more info here and here)

Inspired by Jacqueline Nicholls and her Omer drawings I have decided to attempt a painting a day series titled ‘abstract omer’. Each day of the Omer is a reflection of one or two the Sefirot. Following Kabalistic and Chassidic tradition, a color can be associated with each of the Sefirot. My intention is each day to paint an abstract painting using the colors of the that day’s Sefirot.

Enjoy!

Day 1 Chesed of Chesed

Day 2 Gevurah of Chesed

Day 3 Tiferet of Chesed

Day 4 Netzach of Chesed

Day 5 Hod of Chesed

Chabad.org News Covers the Creative Soul

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:53:03 +0000

The Creative Soul – an art group i co-founded – was recently covered by Chabad.org news team at our recent artist meeting and presentation on ‘What is Jewish Art/What is Jewish Art Now’ by Shoshannah Brombacher & Elke Reva Sudin at Hadas Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.

Please Share your thoughts.

What is Jewish Art? A Diverse Palette

By Sara Trappler-Spielman

The question presented at the Hadas Gallery at the Rohr Jewish Center serving Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., was “What is Jewish Art?” Since it was an artists’ talk, a diverse palette was to be expected. The answers, of course, ran the gamut of Jewish art history, style and perspective.

The event was organized by The Creative Soul, whose founder, Rabbi Yitzchok Moully rented a storefront in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn over the past twoSukkot holidays for Jewish artists. Moully, an artist and youth director for Chabad-Lubavitch in Basking Ridge, N.J., runs a daily blog Art for the Soul on Chabad.org featuring art, photography, videos and poems, and founded The Creative Soul to bring together artists from Chassidic and other Orthodox Jewish communities and to promote their work. The two presenting artists that evening were Shoshannah Brombacher and Elke Reva Sudin, who were raised in Jewish homes, became religious as young adults, and now reside in Brooklyn. That’s where, for the most part, their commonality ends.

The Hebrew Midwives in Egypt (copyright Shoshannah Brombacher)

As a young girl living in Holland, Brombacher said she found a poster in her father’s study of a menorahsurrounded by Hebrew letters, which later inspired her to integrate pictures with texts in her works. These resembled Jewish manuscripts, including Passover haggadahs,ketubot (wedding documents) andtikkuns, paintings of psalms and mystical images used for healing, which she once made as a commission to cure someone from illness and shared with the audience that it healed her instead. Growing up surrounded by culture and museums, she discovered her home was void of many religious objects – considered Judaism’s first art – so as a teenager she began creating them herself. Her work included an original Passover seder plate, Sabbathlamp, Havdalah spice box, challah cover and Sabbath plate.

“Good art is to paint what you live and live what you paint,” Brombacher, a self-taught artist, said. “I believe you can make pictures of all events in life.”

As seen during the length of her presentation, which included numerous clips from a career that’s lasted for more than 20 years, Brombacher began painting when she was three years old and enjoyed an academic career before becoming a full-time artist when settling in New York in 1992. She studied Ancient Middle Eastern languages, and Hebrew literature and codicology, in Leyden, Holland, later lecturing at the Free University of Berlin. She has painted life events based on Jewish holidays, marriage ceremonies, the Holocaust, 9/11, European communities and Lower East Side immigrants, Chassidic stories and portraits of rabbis.

From Joseph: A Pictorial (copyright Shoshannah Brombacher)

“When you make Jewish art, you see everything as Jewish,” Brombacher explained. “What you do and see influences a Jewish artist, so you have to be careful to only see and do good things or you’ll make bad art.”

Brombacher admitted to being very influenced by her rich heritage, receiving inspiration from stories from the Torah and Midrash; still, she doesn’t think Jewish art has to only have religious themes.

“You can take a lot from history,” she said. An example she showed is a painting she made based on a story she heard about a boy waiting for the coming of the Redemption at a train station; he was later shipped to a concentration camp from the exact same station.

“Chassidic art is different than others,” Brombacher said. “It skips ethnicity and can go from East to Western Europe because we have so much history.”

She has proven this by incorporating all styles and locales, despite being a Dutch artist: Russian Cubism and a Rembrandt-style portrait of the Baal Shem Tov; a Golem of Prague series; the Russian shtetl; and life in Amsterdam, Berlin, Jerusalemand New York.

Brombacher once drew Mozart in a Passover scene, but her father responded and said, “Mozart wasn’t Jewish.”

“I know, but I am,” she answered.

“People today want to show off their Jewishness in their artwork, showing how proud they are of their Jewish identity,” said Stuart Lilian, who attended the event with his wife, Devorah, an artist.

Leah Russell, a Jewish artist who was in the audience, said after the talk that as someone who studied Judaism later in life, she comprehends that “Jewish art now is so much richer, broader and deeper.”

“Jewish art is so personal and universal,” Russell continued. “In Judaism, there’s always more. You can always go deeper.”

Sudin, who spoke after Brombacher, was raised in Massachusetts and discovered her artistic and spiritual nature while studying art at the Pratt Institute in New York. Originally drawn to Kabbalah, Sudin found the esoteric challenging to portray on canvas and then began exploring the Chassidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She was living in the southern part of the neighbohood, in a hipster world of artists. She began talking to Chassidic women living nearby, and says she found they were “sort of similar.”

Ana B’koach (The 42 Letter Name) (copyright Elke Reva Sudin)

“I can identify with them, even though they’re different,” Sudin said.

This led to her “Hipsters and Hassids” series, which was exhibited in New York galleries and shows the commonality between the two communities sharing opposite sides of Williamsburg. Her current solo show, titled “We are Patriarchs,” is on view at Hadas Gallery, where she spoke about her work. A stark contrast to Brombacher’s more traditional themes, the series features 15 oil paintings relating to Biblical narratives through modern-day subjects.

Sudin, an illustrator and fine-art painter, first photographed contemporary men and women, who she later embodied as patriarchs and matriarchs in her minimal, quick-stroke style. As a young married couple, Sudin and her husband, Saul, a filmmaker, still socialize with artists from Pratt and attend the Rohr Jewish Center, run by Rabbi Simcha and Ariella Weinstein, for Shabbat meals. Sudin has exhibited in solo and group shows in the New York area; Boston; Philadelphia; Hartford, Conn.; and Colorado.

“The series is about looking back and also how people will look at us in the future,” Sudin said. “We don’t know how a Biblical person looked, but we can all relate to it.”

“When you tell a specific story, it gives something for people to latch onto,” Sudin continued. “I use ornaments to tell stories.”

Among the modern renditions are a Puerto Rican Jewish woman featured as a modern-day Yael in geisha-patterned clothing who defeated the Canaanite GeneralSisera; Persian-American Jews as Jacob and Leah in Leah’s tent with a large Persian rug; a Yiddish farmer wearing tzitzit from upstate New York as a chained Samson; and Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, permanent scholar-in-residence at Chabad serving Harvard University, as a contemporary rabbi teaching a student depicted with Torah scroll cases in a painting titled “Joshua, Disciple of Moses.”

Rivka Nehorai, an artist who attended the event, said she related to Sudin. “She’s thinking hard about how she understands the world around her. She’s open and wants to share, stretch boundaries and unite people from different backgrounds.”

Nehorai also enjoyed seeing the juxtaposition of the two women in how they define themselves as Jewish artists. “They’re different generations. Shoshanna’s an immigrant; Elke is American-born. They’re speaking different languages and in different circles, but there’s still some similarity.”

Art Instillation inspires by Hurricane Sandy & the Jewish New Year for Trees.

admin — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:12:29 +0000

Inspired by the concept of regrowth from Tu B’Shvat; the new Year for Trees (this year on January 26) Rabbi Moully of the Chabad Jewish Center in Basking Ridge created an art instillation titled Nature Vs. Nature from a tree felled by Hurricane Sandy.

In the face of the destruction of Hurricane Sandy can there be is there an opportunity for our rebirth and regrowth?

Tu B’Shvat marks the beginning of the new growth of trees and vegetation following the winter hibernation in Israel, as well as a time for personal growth.

Tu B’Shvat tells us there is always a chance for a new beginning.

From noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, visitors of all ages will be encouraged to write a meditation, or a prayer, or a wish for a new beginning and hang it on the roots of the tree, “exploring,” Moully said, “the possibility of rebirth, even out of the destruction of Sandy.”

Nature Vs. Nature. is sponsored by the Chabad Jewish Center of Basking Ridge and Back to Nature. It will be on display and open to the public to participate Sunday, January 27. from 12 – 4pm at Back to Nature 3055 Valley Road Basking Ridge, NJ.

Here is a NJ Jewish News article on the instillation

Here is the full Press Release:

Nature Vs. Nature.

Local Artist & Chabad Rabbi transformsSandy’s destruction into a new form of hope and invites the community to join in the process

An Art Installation titled Nature Vs. Nature will be on display at “Back to Nature”,3055 Valley Road,Basking Ridge,NJ. Area residents are encouraged to interact with the installation on Sunday, January 27, 12 – 4pm

Like many residents of NJ in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, artist – Chabad Youth Rabbi & Basking Ridge resident Rabbi Yitzchok Moully was mesmerized by the truly gigantic trees that were toppled in the storm. Devastation was everywhere, with roads closed and power lines down and it took weeks to restore a sense of normality to the area.

As weeks moved in to months, Moully, driving his children daily to school inMorristowncontinued to look at the fallen trees, hoping that some industrious craftsman or carpenter was creating something beautiful from the destitution.

Then an idea hit him. Nature Vs. Nature. To create a site specific art installation comprised of 10 or more fallen trees from the area. The installation would take the huge trees with their exposed roots and turn them on their head, making the roots face the sky standing almost as tall as the original tree stood. The installation hopes to explore and visualize the power of nature and its fragility.

With a sense of urgency, Moully wants to have one tree ready for Tu B’Shvat the Jewish New Year for trees, Sunday, January 27. Biblically Tu B’Shvat is the beginning of the agricultural year in ancientIsraelthe date where tithes and taxes were calculated from. Rabbi Mendy Herson Spiritual leader of the Chabad Jewish Center describes Tu B’Shvat as; “It marks the beginning of the new growth of trees and vegetation following the winter hibernation inIsrael, as well as a time for personal growth.”

Moully sees a relationship between the rebirth of Tu B’Shvat and the fallen trees fromSandy. With nature -Sandy- creating such havoc in our lives, where is the opportunity for our rebirth and regrowth?

In what will hopefully be the first stage of the installation Moully is working together with Back to Nature a local eco friendly landscape design firm on the logistics of moving one large tree to Back to Nature’s garden center (at the corner of King George & Valley Roads, across from the Chabad Jewish Center) in time for Tu B’Shvat Sunday, January 27.

The tree will be on display for the community to see explore and interact with. Young and old are encouraged to take the inspiration of regrowth from Tu B’Shvat (the Jewish New Year for trees) and write a meditation, a prayer, a wish for a new beginning and hang it on the roots of the tree. Together the community will explore the possibility of rebirth, even out of the destruction ofSandy.

Creative Soul Partners with Chabad.org with New Blog “Art for the Soul”

admin — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:22:13 +0000

We are proud to share that the Creative Soul has partnerd with Chabad.org to create a new blog.

The goal is to post one piece of art a day together with an inspirational artist statement about the art.

This is a great opportunity to get exposure, chabad.org is excited and want to push this blog to all shluchim affiliate sites and emails.

the blog can be viewed here:

http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/2052347/jewish/Art-for-the-Soul.htm

if you would like to submit work for the blog please fill out the form in the link below

http://moullyart.com/art-for-the-soul-blog-submission/

Sukkot Group Show Submission Opportunity

admin — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:04:03 +0000

The Creative Soul is excited to announce the first group show, titled
“Black and White in Color,” taking place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn
during the Sukkot holiday.
The Art Show is a follow up event based on the success and interest of
a similar show titled “Chassidim of Color,” created by one of the
Creative Soul founders, Yitzchok Moully.

The show will take place from October 3-14 in a vacant store front at
425 Kingston Ave. in the heart of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, one block
from the night long music & dancing in celebration of the Sukkot
holiday.

The show is a reflection of the creativity and artistic talent within
the Orthodox-Chassidic community.

Submission process:

The show is open to all artists in the Orthodox-Chassidic community
world wide and is curated by artists, Moshe Campin and Shoshana
Brombaucher.

Submissions are limited to two dimensional work, no larger than 30×36
inches each.

Each artist may submit up to 5 pieces of work of which three will be chosen.
To submit work for the show please email high resolution .jpg’s to
creativesoulsubmissions@gmail.com
Please title the images by the name and size of the work, in the email
include the title, dimensions, medium and price for each piece.

Artists will receive a email response one or two days after submission.

There is a $50 fee to be included in the show, which goes to cover
costs of the show.

Works for sale need to include a 30% commission to the Creative Soul.

Artists are responsible for insuring the art, if so desired.

All submitted work must be ready to hang.

Artists are responsible to get the artwork to and from the show.

The storefront will be open on Sunday September 30 Erev Sukkos to drop
off work, as well and the first night of Chol Hamoed. The show will be
hung on the first might of Chol Hamoed.

All artists and the community are invited to the Opening on Wednesday,
October 3 at 8pm.

For updates check out www.facebook.com/TheCreativeSoul.org

For any questions please email Yitzchok Moully at ymoully@gmail.com

Moully Art Featured in New A&P Jewish Calendar

admin — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 17:32:29 +0000

I am honored to share the new A&P Calendar for the New Jewish Year 5773 featuring my art!

Pick up your Free copy at any A&P, Food Basics, The Food Emporium, Path Mark, Super Fresh and Waldbaums.

Creative Soul’s first meeting

admin — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:43:00 +0000

So it happened; after almost a year following the very successful ‘Chassidim of Color’ art show, and the almost constant thought that we really need to do something with the creative energy in the Chassidic/Orthodox community (for the lack of a better description – (please let me know if you have a better one)) we got a few artists together for our meeting.

It is a modest start, 10 artists who were in NY for the summer and available last Tuesday came out to Hadas gallery, the wonderful space that is home to Chahad of Pratt.

We discussed the desire to connect with likeminded people, the idea that Jewish art, even religious Jewish art is on the cusp of something big, that we are a new generation moving something forward. We discussed what exactly an artist is, or how an artist sees, and we disagreed, and shared opinions.
So for all intensive purposes we had a successful meeting. The idea of sharing the meeting via Ustream on the web didn’t quite go as planned, but those who logged on saw something, I think.

Now what are the ideas and goals of our new group?

Here are my thoughts…

The Creative Soul was conceived to fulfill three main goals:

Create a space/ movement for artists in the above mentioned – not so well named – community. To be able to share ideas, inspiration, frustrations, to have other artists to critique and give feedback, and to be part of a creative community, with all its opportunities.
Educate the Chassidic/Orthodox community on the value of creativity in all its forms. Too often Jewish illustration is defined as art; our goal is to share the need and the incredible value of creativity to young growing minds – and adults.
With that in mind we want to eventually create a physical space where we can teach art and hold events and shows.
Educate the wider community on the value and beauty of art created within the Chassidic/Orthodox community. An art that (hopefully) reflects the deep love and passion for Torah and Judaism. To challenge the accepted idea that art from the Chassidic/Orthodox community is a reflection of a time gone by, and to inspire an interest or even a passion for the relevance of the torah to today’s way of life.

How we go about making those goals a reality?; well, we have our whole lives for that, but for now we are hoping to schedule another meeting before Rosh Hashana and to create a follow up to the successful group show that got this all rolling.
To find out more or to get involved, email creativesoul.org@gmail.com or just like our page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/TheCreativeSoul.org the website is on its way (let me know if you would like to help put with this one).
Thanks for reading

Moully

Un-Orthodox Orthodox Art

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 05:30:39 +0000

Jacqueline Nicholls is a fine artist in her words “…who uses art to explore traditional Jewish ideas in untraditional ways.” Jacqueline is an Orthodox woman living in London with lots of questions about her religion and its relationship with women. Perhaps it would be easy for her to write off Torah as not being up to date with current ideas of feminism, but not for Jacqueline, she is both a Torah observant Jew as well as a feminist, looking for ways of understanding the two together. Not looking to shy away from confrontation, Jacqueline has devoted a large body of her work to questioning the relationship of Torah and women, their role in Torah society, and to what she views as unanswered biblical quandaries that relate to women.

What struck me most about Jacqueline and her work was that while Jacqueline pushed the envelope –way passed where I would push – she still had respect for the Torah and its truths. Perhaps she still has not found adequate answers to everything, but the process is real and personal as she strives to make sense of heritage and world around her.

Below is an open interview with Jacqueline and a window in to her world.

What was your relationship with creativity growing up?

I always drew, painted and made things. I had a great grandmother who was a very talented dressmaker and as a child whenever relatives saw my work they would talk about her. She died before I was born but I grew up hearing those stories and being inspired by her memory. When I was very little apparently I would get very upset that I was not allowed to draw on Shabbat. My mother was upset that I hated Shabbat for this and so she decided to let me draw, even though in every other way we were a Shabbat observant family.

What was your relationship with Judaism growing up?

I grew up in a traditional orthodox family. My family observed Shabbat and Kosher
I attended mainstream schools but went to Cheder (religious school), on Sunday morning and after school during the week. When I was older and wanted to study in a yeshiva for women in Israel (Nishmat), they were fully supportive.

In your bio you mention that you studied architecture and medical illustrator before you turned to fine art. What was it about fine art that drew you in?

I went to art school after architecture school to unlearn that way of drawing. While I was there I was not just learning a different approach to drawing but also thinking. Using art to explore and express different ideas. I had a tutor who was Jewish, but not religious and or particularly learned, but he knew that I had spent time in traditional Jewish learning and also taught those texts, and he encouraged me to bring them into my art.

You challenge certain passages of the Torah, especially in relation to women.
When did these questions first arise?
What were you like as a teenager?
What was the nature of your questions then?

I have a younger brother. And I remember very clearly when he was born there was quite a bit of ‘finally a boy!’ being bantered around. (I also have an older sister) And despite various reassuring noises from my parents, the shock that a boy was what was really wanted never quite disappeared.

But there was no one moment when these questions first arrived. I was used to jew = male and all examples about Jewish identity were male and required me to abstract and translate into a female experience. There are certain things growing up you just accept until you can’t anymore. There are many times when I just knew, on an intuitive level, that my life would have just been easier if I had been born a boy not a girl.

Is there an answer to these questions?
How do you resolve on a personal level?

I don’t know if there is a way to answer the questions. The main thing is to keep questioning. Find people to learn from, and debate and talk to. The hardest thing is having these questions in isolation, that can be very lonely.

What area of Torah do you celebrate the most?
Both personally and in your work?

I’m not really sure how to answer that. I keep coming back to traditional learning and engagement with the text. It is a problematic relationship, and often it has been an argument rather than a conversation. But it is a relationship that I can’t walk away from and so go back to it again and again.
The text is my intellectual heritage, Jewish history is my story and so I try to find a way
to engage with it in my own way, and be as honest and open as I can, aware of the incongruities.

You teach a Torah class; have your struggles impacted your students?
Does it impact their opinion of you in relationship to you leading the study?

I teach Tanach, (The Bible) and some more traditional Halacha shirim (Jewish law) to adults, I like to investigate how Halacha has evolved to contemporary practice. I sometimes tutor bat-mitzvah girls.
I see my role as a Jewish educator to open up the text to the students in order for them to have their own relationship with Torah. I try not to impose my questions onto the students, but encourage them to ask their questions and discover their answers. Obviously it is impossible for the teacher to totally remove oneself, but I’m not there to tell people what to do or how to think. They are adults and it is up to them how to, or whether to, translate what they are learning into their life and thinking.
I just want the students to be thoughtful and engaged and to have informed opinions.

When I am doing that type of teaching I don’t bring in my artwork, (although I often bring in other artists) and very possibly most of the students have no idea what type of art I actually do. The ones who do, appreciate that I am not going to give ‘easy’ answers, or ban any type of questioning, but be intellectually honest and not shy away from problematic texts.

Your work is very raw, it is personal and real; how does it feel to put yourself out through your work?

When I am making my work it is a way for me to grapple with certain ideas, and emotions. To make something and then be able to say ‘yes, that is how it is.’ it’s a cathartic process and it is very personal. After it is made I do worry about it going public and feels horribly exposing. But I have noticed, especially with the more deeply personal pieces that they resonate with whoever is viewing them, and it then becomes about what has stirred up in them. My personal narratives that inspired such pieces are not always relevant for the viewer to know, just that they recognize that the art comes from an emotionally authentic place.

What body of work do you think had the biggest impact on others?

The paper-cuts have had a lot of attention. But the one piece that I think speaks to many people is a small, quiet piece, called ‘maybe this month.’ It is a fabric piece, with that phrase embroidered in white on 15 white cotton bedikah cloths that are sewn together in red thread. It is about infertility and my experience of building hope when preparing to go to the mikveh. It took a long time before I was ready for that piece to be seen by others. It was featured in Zeek on-line, and from there several blogs and other websites linked to it. Although it has only once been exhibited publicly, I often meet women, and men, who say that they have seen that piece and they recognize and it emotionally resonates with them.

How has your work impacted or enhanced the dialogue?

One male rabbi who writes on-line about infertility and Halacha (Jewish law) linked to the ‘maybe this month’ piece with a humble recognition that he does not and cannot know how the niddah (menstrual) cycle can impact on women.
The paper-cuts also encourage debate and recognition that a women’s perspective on these texts, and how they impact real women’s lives, has been missing in the conversation. For too long women in Judaism have been objects.

Your descriptions accompanying your work are as compelling as the work itself. Does the work always follow the concept or does it change?

I start off each piece with an idea, which develops as I make the piece. There is something about the way our minds work when hands are busy, especially when making meticulous detailed work. And the initial concept is deepened and developed in the process of making.

You use many different mediums to convey your message, which do you find conveys your ideas best?

I tend to change the medium depending on the particular project I am doing. The black and white contrast and act of cutting fitted what I was trying to do with the misogynist texts in the ladies guild collection. I am currently working on a series of multi-layered embroideries about women in the Talmud. I like the ambiguity that you can achieve with these layers of transparent fabric and lace-like embroidery that echo the experience of engaging with Talmudic text. It’s playing with mesechet meaning tractate of Talmud, but also Mesechet means a woven web.

Describe your recent project; gather the broken.

This year I am counting the omer (counting the days in the build up to Shaviot; Holiday of the giving of the Torah) by doing a daily drawing that is interpreted/commentated on by my friend and Rebbi, Amichai Lau-Lavie. Going from Pesach to Shavuot by acknowledging each day and what is broken in our daily lives.
Perfection is fairly sterile, creativity and new life begins with engaging with the flaws. not in a rush to fix, but to see the beauty and meaning in how life really is – flawed, broken, and imperfect.
Inspired by the daily drawings I am embarking on a much more ambitious project. I will be starting a new project on August 3 called draw Yomi. It is following the seven and a half year daf yomi cycle, – that begins again this August – (learning one page of Talmud a day) I aim to learn and draw from the daf every day, yes, lets see how disciplined I can be.

What are you currently working on?

I have a solo show at the JCC Manhattan, coming up in September; I will be exhibiting all my recent projects including my latest; Ghosts & Shadows: the women who haunt the Talmud, a series of embroideries inspired by various anonymous women in the Talmud, and I will also be exhibiting the Gather the Broken Omer drawings, and the Kittel Collection. The Kittel Collection is an on-going series of clothing pieces that explore the different ways clothing is used as a vehicle for meaning and identity within our tradition and literature. The kittel is a simple, white, garment used as a burial shroud. There are customs for men to wear a kittel on Seder night; on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

I am using the leitmotif of a kittel, playing with it, as it is clothing in its essence, as a basic form on which to project these different ideas of clothing.

How would you define Jewish art?

Jewish art is not just an expression of Jewish experience, for me it has to have an intellectual and emotional engagement with the ideas, or else it is just illustration, which is nice but why make it?

What are you adding to the conversation? What is this piece of art revealing to you that can only be said in this art piece by you? With all your life experiences, torah insights and your unique combination of abilities?

Jacqueline’s work can be seen on her website www.jacquelinenicholls.com and on display at a solo show at the JCC Manhattan, beginning September 1^st.