THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD, 2022

SHORTLISTED

The Weight of the World has been created in the form of a tallis, a Jewish prayer shawl worn since biblical times. To the artist, the tallis represents tradition, comfort and security, she recollects her father wearing his over his shoulders in synagogue on festivals and High Holy Days. As is the custom, his shawl was buried with him when he passed away.

In the artwork, the traditional black stripes which decorate tallises have been replaced with lines of text, painstakingly hand stitched with black silk thread. The tallis has now become a vessel for carrying a horrifying record of antisemitic incidents which took place worldwide in 2020 and 2021. This object is repellent and not created to be worn. Jewish people should not have to carry the burden of antisemitism on their shoulders.

The symbolism within the work is so very powerful as is the message literally in black and white. Your work charts stories that shouldn’t have to be told after the outrage against humanity in the 1940s in Europe. That antisemitism is still being feasted on by racists as a justifiable dialogue is utterly unacceptable. Conceptual visual artist & lecturer

Thoughtful, considered, articulate and technically superb, this smacks you in the guts with a delicacy that only Caren can manage. Lecturer, academic, artist

In-situ at The Festival of Quilts

The practice of integrating motifs from traditional Judaica into contemporary artworks creates new objects, which then enter into a dialogue with the traditional object and displace it from its original ritual function to the domain of art. David Sperber, Lipstick on a Torah Scroll, 2011

Tallis - Traditional Jewish Prayer Shawl

COMMENTS

  • Powerful work - I can imagine it was a painful make. Antisemitism is never acceptable - we all need to call it out

  • Wow, such important work

  • This work is visually excellent but it is your determination to convey to a wider audience the horror of antisemitism that is the true strength of the work

  • You never cease to amaze me. Another outstanding artwork, so poignant and resonant. Chilling that there are so many incidents to record from such recent times

  • Such incredibly powerful and beautiful work

  • This is remarkable - oh the tallis and how many memories this evokes for me but, more importantly, how you have used the tallis to express the insidious nature of antisemitism

  • This is incredible in so many ways

  • This work deserves greater recognition. Amazingly powerful and technically breathtaking

  • That’s blown me away. Well done, your work is always so poignant

  • So clever. Really emphasises the continuing horrors of antisemitism

  • My goodness - the concept, the storytelling, the power, the execution. I learn so much from your work

  • A beautiful piece of work…but I’m sorry that there was a cause for its creation

  • The difference between you and me is that you have taken the time, skill, bravery and focus, to shine a light on this bleak side of humanity

  • Thank you for this brave work

  • What an accomplishment, in concept and completion

  • Sadly very poignant and thought-provoking work, and such a brilliant way of communicating this current reality

  • Unique and truly amazing work

  • How you do this is just beyond…thoughtful, evocative and incomparable

  • This is brilliant, though, as you say, a horrifying piece of work. May we live in a world where we don’t need to make objects like this

  • Truly inspirational work

  • Brilliant idea, so beautifully executed, but how horrendous that it is such a current hate crime

  • An astounding piece of work. So powerful, so moving - deceptively simple in design, but wonderfully clever

  • Phenomenal, such beauty and such horror

  • Incredible work. But I’m shocked that there is so much antisemitism in this day and age

  • Beautiful, sensitive work, but also with weight of great sadness

  • Thank you for presenting this work to the wider art world

Measurement: 180cm x 56cm (110cm x 80cm folded)

Process: Hand stitch

Materials: Textile, silk thread, gold and silver metallic threads, tzitzit

Exhibited in:

The Fine Art Textiles Award Exhibition, The Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham (18 - 21 August 2022)

The Fine Art Textiles Award Exhibition, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London (6 - 9 October 2022)

The Fine Art Textiles Award Exhibition, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate (17 - 20 November 2022)