Mezuzahs - A Peek in the Studio
What draws me to sculpt mezuzah cases, are the truths to identity and in turn, the clarity of mission and purpose held in the words scribed on the muzuzah parchments within.
The following are images of some of the pieces I sculpted over the last couple weeks.
The Chassidic letter shin on this medallion, can be seen written on selective mezuzah parchments that may be placed inside my mezuzah cases.
Here I played with different natural clays, looks and styles. I also tried different forms of the Hebrew letter, shin. The rocks you see are from Israel. I use them as sculpting tools.
This style shin can be seen on old and newer Israeli coins. I made this medallion to look like a shield. One of the things a mezuzah offers is protection.
The works in the following images were sculpted from a clay dug up in North Carolina. I’ll fire these pieces in an outdoor wood-burning kiln requiring stoking and tending over a 24-hour period.
Here, I carved images of Torah scrolls, each with a Kabbalistic styled Hebrew letter shin.
For the above, I sculpted multiple elemental pieces and joined them together for a totally different look.
Here, I carved the Hebrew letter shin embedded in an abstract images of Israel.
A Torah Scribe once told me, “Your art is very interesting in that it brings out that which is otherwise hidden.” A tall order. Hopefully these pieces do this.