In his new show, “Women of Valor and Other Super Heroes,” papercut artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik explores women’s voices in the Torah, especially the relationships between mothers and daughters. The exhibition will run through Nov. 30 at the National Council of Jewish Women in Los Angeles. All art is for sale – the artist will donate a percentage of proceeds back to National Council of Jewish Women/Los Angeles to benefit the programs and services to women, children and families.
“We’ve got Abraham and Isaac, we’ve got Isaac and his sons, we have Jacob and his 12 sons,” Brynjegard-Bialik said. “But there’s so little interaction between mothers and daughters.”
The show primarily focuses on what he refers to as the “super women of Jewish tradition” through the lens of pop culture narratives. His papercuts blend traditional sources and comic book stories in graphic compositions made of cut-up comics and maps.
Brynjegard-Bialik explores how traditions and ideas pass from mother to daughter, and looks at strong female heroes who have been pushed to the fringes of scholarship. He believes Jewish scholarship and comics have traditionally been male-dominated arenas, and he is highlighting women’s voices in both traditions.
There are more than two dozen works in the show, dominated by images of female super heroes, recontextualized in papercuts inspired by biblical battles, religious iconography and the laws of the Talmud. Brynjegard-Bialik has two papercuts in the concurrent 2015 Jerusalem Biennale, and is presently at work on a large commission for the new chapel at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
0 Comment