Panhandler - Jerusalem
Panhandler - Jerusalem, Israel; Oil on epoxy impregnated paper; 15 inches high
This man caught my wife’s and my attention as we made our way by foot from the bus station in Jerusalem down to the Old City. We had taken a bus from Tel Aviv early that morning with only a vague idea of where we were going — not so dissimilar to my experience with art, having little idea of direction.
For several years I had focused on sculpting — primarily in bronze and clay. With my regular studio closed for COVID, I switched to painting in my home studio. To tell the truth, I was a bit intimidated having not picked up a paint brush for quite a while. Despite my initial attempts being amateurish, I plugged away not letting my disappointments define me. My focus was to do lots of painted sketches — like practicing scales for a musician. I gradually reacquainted myself with my tools and materials and got my hand-eye coordination back for line and color. I ended up doing a series of 15” oil sketches, mostly of my time in Israel.
Panhandler - Jerusalem, Israel; Acrylic on corrugated cardboard; 5 feet high
From the initial oil sketches, I painted “A Letter in the Scroll” exhibit — ten paintings, each on a 5-foot cardboard panel; each work zooming in for an intimate portrayal of someone in their unique setting and circumstance. Collectively they can be seen as juxtaposed moments in time; slices of life within Israel and the Diaspora.
A question I get a lot: “Why did I choose cardboard?”
The answer: I chose corrugated cardboard to create dissonance; to inquire into my emotional anchors of materialism; and, to express a heightened awareness of my nomadic roots - a fight or flight response to rapidly evolving societal dangers in 21st century America.