Most of my tapestry work attempts to express artistically the dramatic stories of the Old Testament.
Over the years, I have been particularly inspired by the heroic stories of WOMEN IN THE BIBLE and have completed nine important tapestries in this series.
The story of Eve was first portrayed as a part of my early series on Genesis. As mother of us all, she stands in my mind as the strongest, most powerful of all feminine figures portrayed. Additionally, the fact that Eve has served as artistic inspiration for Jews and Christians throughout the ages compels me to see her as the most important of feminine biblical characters.
The series includes 12 works: Eve (two variations), Miriam, Hagar, Esther, Deborah, Lot’s Wife, Delilah, and–from the Song of Songs–a piece I have called ‘I Am Black.’ Serah Bat Asher, designed as a triptych, forms the final sequence in my biblical odyssey.
All serve as role models–moving us to admire their wisdom, courage, leadership, and kindness or to guard against impulses which are dangerous and wicked.
These ancient stories continue to resonate in a very modern world. One example is in my tapestry “Hagar.” Inspired by a lecture on surrogate mothers, I tried to portray through abstract design the emotion I felt toward this character who gives the greatest gift of all. Her story connects in a realistic way one of the struggles that remain with us today.
Women in the Bible play a major role in my artwork and all have a place in my heart and my imagination.
Triptych: Serah Bat Asher
The following are designs for a tapestry series. Conceived of as a triptych and dedicated to a heroine of several biblical legends: SERAH BAT ASHER. This forms the final sequence in my biblical odyssey–WOMEN IN THE BIBLE. The Eitz Haim commentary indicates: “It is inconceivable that Jacob’s 12 sons should have had 53 sons and only one daughter. In light of the general tendency to omit women from the genealogies, there must be some extraordinary reason for her mention” (in Genesis 46:17 and Numbers 26:46).
The first tapestry in the triptych relates to exactly this commentary. When thinking about who would accompany those on the important mission of going down to Egypt, it is striking that a woman would be considered. The significance of Serah’s mention struck me and I had to express this in my tapestry. Serah is portrayed as a strong and compassionate leader “projecting her own light.”
In the second tapestry of the triptych I took as inspiration the moving story of Serah as a young, beautiful, and already wise woman who was appointed by Joseph’s brothers to reveal to her grandfather Jacob that Joseph was alive. Serah, who lovingly cared for Jacob, chooses to accomplish her task in a gentle manner by playing the harp and singing “Joseph is alive.” She later reveals that she sang a melody she heard the angels singing.
The third and last in the series relates to Serah as the sole Israelite who saw the angels gather to watch the children of Israel cross the Sea of Reeds. She reveals that “the walls of water looked like mirrors in which every man, woman, and child was reflected, therefore making it seem that an even greater number of people crossed–the present generations along with their descendants.”
One of the legends reports that she died in a fire at a synagogue; another that she never actually died. Instead, she is like Elijah wandering around the world. Yet another–my own favorite–says that a fiery chariot took her to heaven, where she teaches and presides over those women who tended the old and sick during their lifetimes.
The importance of Serah’s role is of a person whose wisdom interconnects generations.