Tōhu

From the ongoing series titled Tōhu. ‘Tōhu’, Hebrew for chaos, comes from the phrase Tōhu va’vohu from the Jewish bible in the religious description of the state of the earth before creation. From a young age, I have heard this phrase used to describe chaos in my Jewish community. Over the last decade of working as a ballet dancer, simultaneously attaining higher education, and becoming an emerging visual artist and choreographer, there have been many chaotic moments personally, nationally, and globally which have shaken, but never broken, my Jewish and female identity. This series seeks to express this journey: the chaos and “organization” of day-to-day life as a modern Jewish woman, how chaos and order can be one in the same, and the trials and grace of both. Each work explores feelings of anxiety, censorship, and struggle, but also beauty, joy, and triumph using found objects, vintage paper, plastic waste, personal photographs, as well as ink and acrylic.