Artist Statement: I get my inspirations for art making from lots of places. Sometimes a poem I’ve
heard compels me to my art room, other times the simple delight of a bird on a
branch or a flower in bloom is enough to get me in the maker mood. The
inspiration is always a gift from the universe a tiny revelation that comes with it
the responsibility to convey meaning or emotion, to spark curiosity, conversation
or even controversy at times. I take this responsibility seriously I want to give my
subjects be it bird or bloom or being their due.
About a year and a half ago my niece Francesca spent the summer with us to
ride out the pandemic in a different habitat zone. We had wonderful talks about
books and movies and religion and spirituality over cocktails on the porch.
Somewhere in the mix of that summer she mentioned Na'amah of the Ark. Her
reference for this was a children’s book Noah’s Wife: The Story of the Na'amah
by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. There are a couple of other children’s books that
imagine Na'amah but there is very little other reference to her. She is often the
unnamed wife of Noah. In the King James bible, she is only referred to as Noah's
wife and no other mention is made of her role or her responsibilities. There is a
Jewish Orthodox Midrash commentary from over a thousand years ago in which
Na'amah is named – the name is said to mean "pleasant" or "delightful". Women
are often painted in such words. But like the Na'amah of the children’s book I
knew this woman had to be more than just a delightful, pleasant creature, she
had to be bold and brave, resourceful, and resilient. Eisenberg Sasso's Na'amah
is the collector of seeds and plants. Well of course, I thought, someone had to
get them for the earth to revive and repopulate. Animals alone wouldn’t last long
with plant life as nourishment!
My Na'amah is the saver and sower of seeds, giver and grower of life. Na'amah
is the nurturer that allows all else to persist and prosper. In this legend she is
Noah's partner of the Ark and more. My Na'amah is also the archetypal Mother
Earth, Gaia to the Greeks, Jörð in Norse Myth.
I envisioned my Na'amah with dark skin to wrestle her out of a Euro centric visual
norm. She carries sprouts in her pockets to preserve and plant. Uprooted Calla
Lilies in her arms represent her own and humanities refugee status,
uprootedness caused by climate catastrophe. She has seeds stitched into the
hem, this is a reference to the victims of the Holocaust and other upheavals
stitching valuables into their clothing for safe keeping. In so doing she embodies
hope, hope for the journey, hope that these seeds can be planted one day and
begin life anew. Her upraised arm holds Raven. Na'amah has given her olive
seeds to plant. In the Genesis story Noah sends out the raven first who comes
back exhausted and empty beaked. Here Na’amah has tasked Raven with
planting and beginning anew. The spout of this planted seed is later returned to
the ark by Dove.
I envisioned this art piece in fabric and stitch because I wanted to reference the
tradition of stitch as a feminine art that clothes and covers and comforts. The
making of Na'amah was a great puzzle to solve - to create an Everywoman Earth
Mother that rewrites a story she has been written out of. A tall order. I am
pleased with the result. She is my Na'amah, she can be yours too or, even
better, make your own! I want us all to work to repopulate the stories that so
many have been left out of.
Bio: As an artist I am an explorer and observer first. I like to wander and wonder, let
things percolate while I ponder. I have numerous sketchbooks full of chicken
scratch drawings and cryptic thoughts. Over time (and often during a long hot
shower) an idea will keep rising to the surface, I might even push that thought
bubble below the surface, telling it I don’t have time for you, but the best ideas
won’t pop and so I move on from thought to action. I have used many mediums
over the years from fabric to painting to printing and collage but the unifying
thread through all these mediums is a love of the puzzle. I like to problem solve,
to piece and play with an idea until it can take shape as a visual idea.
I love words and word play so words are often woven in the work and the work is
woven in words. Throughout, no matter the medium, I play with the verbal and
the visual. In that vein I have and artist journey blog. The blog pushes me to try
new things, to play and produce and articulate both visually and in prose my
ideas and inspirations. It has been a significant experiment, rewarding and
daunting all at once. To create something and then share it with world almost
immediately is both thrilling and terrifying. But what is art for if not to share, if not
to pique and poke? So that is my goal, my quest my passion, to share art, to
have conversations, to both reflect on and reflect back the wonders of the world I
navigate. I have been fortunate to be published in both technique magazines such as
Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors and in art journals such as Cold Mountain
Review and About Place.
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