Curiosities and Wonders
Wun·der·kam·mer
ˈvo͝ondərˌkämər/
noun
plural noun: Wunderkammern
a place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited.
German, literally ‘wonder chamber.’
(Google Translation)
ˈvo͝ondərˌkämər/
noun
plural noun: Wunderkammern
a place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited.
German, literally ‘wonder chamber.’
(Google Translation)
Governor's Island; August, 2014
tekhelet, murex shells, and aloe
Tekhelet: A rare blue dye derived from the murex trunculus snail. It is mentioned in the Torah and was used for ritual objects in the Temple and for tzitzit fringes.
Wunderkammern; aloes, wombs, horns, and other wonders of nature
City Wide Open Studios, New Haven; October, 2013
“Spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all frankincense trees, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.” Song of Songs, 4:14
Song of Songs is a written collection of wonders--of spices, doves, ewes, vineyards, apples, roses, gazelles, mountains, rivers, gold, silver.
My installation at the New Haven Armory includes my scrolls and cyanotypes from “I have come to my garden”; as well as personal and natural objects and photographs that loosely relate to them. There are photographs and drawings of the dried aloe, and the live offshoot “children” of the original plant. These natural forms and personal artifacts are the beginning of my own collection of curiosities and wonders. And it is growing.
“(...) liken yourself to a gazelle or to a fawn of the hinds on the spice mountains." Song of Songs, 8:14
“Reveille” is a bugle call; the word is from the french réveiller, to awaken. In that spirit, my installation also includes ram and kudu antelope horns that are used for shofars. Their curved shapes mimic the scrolled cyanotype papers. Yet, unlike the ambiguity and quiet of some of the scrolls and their texts; the shofar’s sound is clear and loud, and awakens to the present. It is a sound of awe and wonder.
Song of Songs is a written collection of wonders--of spices, doves, ewes, vineyards, apples, roses, gazelles, mountains, rivers, gold, silver.
My installation at the New Haven Armory includes my scrolls and cyanotypes from “I have come to my garden”; as well as personal and natural objects and photographs that loosely relate to them. There are photographs and drawings of the dried aloe, and the live offshoot “children” of the original plant. These natural forms and personal artifacts are the beginning of my own collection of curiosities and wonders. And it is growing.
“(...) liken yourself to a gazelle or to a fawn of the hinds on the spice mountains." Song of Songs, 8:14
“Reveille” is a bugle call; the word is from the french réveiller, to awaken. In that spirit, my installation also includes ram and kudu antelope horns that are used for shofars. Their curved shapes mimic the scrolled cyanotype papers. Yet, unlike the ambiguity and quiet of some of the scrolls and their texts; the shofar’s sound is clear and loud, and awakens to the present. It is a sound of awe and wonder.
