A Prayer: To See Ourselves in Others and Others in Ourselves
Mixed media: Vintage mirror etched with names of Jewish family members murdered in the Holocaust, painted portrait of 3 Palestinian women in replica 14th century picture frame (Siena, Italy), funds silver plated vessels, Czech glass beads wire beaded to form Poppy (the national flower of Israel), and Poppy Anemone (the national flower of Palestine).
18” x 28” x 5”
Handwritten on the walls of the Pinkas Memorial Synagogue in Prague are the names of 80,000 Bohemian and Moravian Jews murdered in the Holocaust. I etched 84 names here - members of my husband’s family.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel promised to destroy Hamas’ fighting force and leadership. Within five days, the Israeli Air Force dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza – 42 bombs an hour – including many unguided missiles.
One explosion tore through a hospital in Gaza City where civilians were sheltering. A photographed of several women in the aftermath struck me with its similarity to Madonna and Child images seen in countless churches and cathedrals. I used it as the basis for the portrait here.
I can see the shadow of my face in the mirror over the names of my husband’s murdered relatives, their first names ringing in my mind.
And I also think of the Palestinian families like Youssef Salem’s. He mourns 270 relatives killed since October. And the Mughrabi family - more than 70 killed in a single Israeli airstrike; the Abu Najas - over 50 killed, including two pregnant women; the Doghmush clan who lost at least 44 members in an airstrike on a mosque with 100 more killed in following weeks and the Abu al-Qumssan family – over 80 people killed.
The two vases hold the national flower of Israel, the Poppy Anemone, protected by law in Israel, and the national flower of Palestine, the Poppy, protected by law in Palestine.