SELECTION II, 2022
Selected for The 7th Riga International Textile and Fibre Art Triennial 2023
Selection II focuses on the innocent people who were murdered during the Holocaust because they were Jewish. The work is an avowal of remembrance, but also a reminder that antisemitism did not cease when World War II ended.
Today, antisemitism is proliferating everywhere from Europe to the United States, from the Middle East to Latin America, and Jewish people are still being killed because of their religion. On closer examination of the artwork, there are names, histories and photographs of some of those lost in the 20th and the 21st century.
People who wore glasses were selected as a means of gaining a random cross-section of Jewish society which was lost to hatred. Only one person does not wear spectacles, an elderly Jewish man who was murdered in Lyon, France in 2022.
In-situ at Art Museum Riga Bourse, Latvia
Rina, 15, her sister Maia, 20, and their mother Lucy, 48, were travelling to Lake Kinneret for a family holiday over Passover. Their vehicle was driven off the road by terrorist gunmen who went up to the car and opened fire on the women at close range. Twenty-two bullet casings were found at the scene. Rina and Maia were killed instantly, and Lucy passed away three days later in hospital after sustaining life-threatening injuries.
In-situ at Art Museum Riga Bourse, Latvia
Measurement: 70cm x 62cm x 1cm (dimensions variable)
Process: Hand stitch
Materials: Cotton, silk threads, 75 vintage ophthalmic lenses, 75 miniature picture frames, photographs
Exhibited in:
The 7th Riga International Textile and Fibre Art Triennial Tradition and Innovation, QUO VADIS?, Art Museum “Riga Bourse”, Dom Square, Riga, Latvia (16 June - 17 September 2023)