In response to this art, I created a dialogue between the artist and the rabbi. The subject of the artist’s expression is created using thread, bits of fabric and lace.
The artist puts glue upon her fingers and picks up lace, thread and scraps to create the cries of her heart.
She does not always know how she will create when she first begins…the colors swirl before her; the lines are yet to be determined.
Like wandering in the wilderness, she listens to the winds upon the desert sands.
She turns to one side, listening deeper.
Some have called her an artistic mystic. Indeed she may well be. But no matter… the threads become lines and the fabrics the colors.
The prayer shawl is but scraps gathered, woven, transformed…
O Most Holy God, this rabbi prays, My God whom I have worshiped and adored all of my days. I lift up this shofar and let the cry of the ancients fill the air. The prayers of all are united in this sound. We cry out to you, O Most Holy God.
People walking by often mistake this collage work as painting. If they look closer with eyes to see, they will begin to understand differently. But only if they have eyes to see.
Open my heart, O My God! The old rabbi chants. And the deep haunting sound of the shofar echoes and re-echoes. Forgive us, Most Holy One. We have forgotten how to listen deeply.
The artist sighs. She knows some may think this art is only meager work of scraps and leftovers, of that which is mostly thrown away. She looks at the rabbi and nods.
Yes, she whispers as she reaches to touch his beard created from old lace. Yes. You do know, don’t you?
Collage by Ella Rayoni, who lived in an artist colony in Israel. This art is from the private collection of an artist in Rancho Mirage, CA.
(c) Diane L. Mathias, 2015. All rights reserved
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