Waning (8/19/07 – 7/14/08) & Waxing (7/27/18 - 5/10/19), a deeply personal piece about my experience as grieving daughter and expecting mother 12 years apart, drew from a need to seek catharsis through transformation of physical materials reinterpreting Jewish mourning rituals. In Jewish tradition, fabric on the chest is ripped at graveside, symbolic of exposing one’s heart in grief. At the conclusion of the mourning period, the rip is sewn and repaired, no longer raw, but leaving a visible scar. Waning depicts phases of the moon from the 11 month traditional Jewish mourning period following my Father’s death August 19, 2007. Waxing depicts phases of the moon from my 41 week pregnancy prior to giving birth on May 10, 2019.

The hand carved wood from which the pieces were cast in 2019, carved 12 years apart, begin with death & end with life. The first phase of the moon I carved in 2007 was from the night my dad died. The last phase of the moon in 2019 was from the night I gave birth to our son. The diptych hold ongoing connections between the two events - cycles of love and loss.

Waning & Waxing is made from discarded t-shirts and bedsheets, some from our home. The colors are from pulping and mixing different colored fabrics. The hot pink back glow is from pulped hot pink t-shirts. I form the pulp by hand & slowly press out the water using my body weight. I experiment with drying techniques to let work dry with less rigid, more undulating and sculptural forms.

Waning (August 19, 2007-July 14, 2008) & Waxing (July 27, 2018-May 10, 2019), 2020
Pulped discarded bedsheets and t-shirts
Edition varee or 3 + 1 AP
Overall 33 x 92 inches. Each 33 x 46 inches.

Photo Credit: Phillip Maisel