2015 RAVSAK Judaic Art ContestArtwork and Artist Statements

Lena Stein, Rosenblatt High School at Donna Klein Jewish Academy

First Place (HS), Drawing and Painting

The Forbidden Fruit (Apple on tinfoil)

Acrylic on Canvas

An apple can have different types of symbolism to each person. Apples can be seen as a symbol for health or a symbol of youth and immortality. The most common symbolism for the apple is knowledge derived from the story of Adam and Eve. My painting is based off a photograph I took of a red apple on tinfoil. I felt that when portraying Eve, it’s most important to represent the fruit that changed her life. Consuming the forbidden fruit was the twist in Eve’s journey from a world where everything was handed to her, to a world where she had to learn what it means to live life. Eating a fruit from the tree of knowledge, also seen as an apple, changed the course of her journey through life setting a precedent for the rest of humanity to come.

Through my studies as an AP art student, I have been concentrating on the properties of tinfoil. Tinfoil is the best fit for the background of this painting because it is a reflective surface. Like a mirror, tinfoil is never one color; it is only the reflection of the world around it from the deep reds and yellows of the apple to the sun behind the camera and the blue on the shirt I was wearing that day. Unlike a mirror, tinfoil diffuses imagery. When everything seems hazy and unclear in the world, it becomes easier to detect the things we really want. In my painting, I inferred that Eve was living in the heavenly fog of the Garden of Eden but once the forbidden fruit was in her view, the bright intriguing colors seemed to bring her some clarity. Although partaking of the forbidden fruit was the wrong thing to do, it opened her eyes to the real world and forced her to start her journey as the mother of all.

Joshua Kleynberg, Milken Community Schools

Second Place (HS), Drawing and Painting

Untitled

Color Pencil and Acrylic Paint

A journey is defined as “an act of traveling from one place to another.” Although a journey implies that we moves from one location to another physically, one shouldn’t ignore that we also take life journeys to move from one state to another, often in an attempt to improve ourselves. In our journey of moving forward from a past self of mediocracy to a more improved and superior self, we often face challenges which will test our resolution to fight against them. These challenges test our courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith. Although we may lose our footing in our journey forward, it is important to focus on the prize in front of us and always move towards it.

To represent the concept of powering though the challenges which life presents ourselves with, I created an image of a swimmer reaching out of the water. The swimmer reaching out of the water is a reference to ourselves as we attempt to break out of our current lives. Like water in its natural relaxed state, our lives often are very stable and are without any change whether positive or negative. It is our duty to attempt to change that and reach towards positive change. As the swimmer moves forward, his hand is enveloped by a set of vines which pull him down. The vines are an allusion to the changes which we readily face when we challenge stability and chose to change. Together, the swimmer, water, and vines create a composition which reflects on the challenges we may face in our lives.

Attempting to improve ourselves is a quality that we should all strive for. Contradictory to what we would like, most of us become comfortable with the stability which our lives offer and are afraid to the blanket of protection which stability offers us. For this reason what many of us only dream of what we want to change into, what we want to become, but if we want to improve ourselves, we must embrace the uncertainty that change will bring us.

Kayla Danesh, Milken Community Schools

Third Place (HS), Drawing and Painting

Looking through New Lenses

Color Pencil and Graphite

Being a teenager is a difficult transition between childhood and adulthood. As I am maturing, I feel as though I am starting to look at life from a new point of view. Ofttimes I feel conflicted by my childhood journey from the past, and my adulthood journey that is just beginning. Am I still a kid, or am I an adult? I am somewhere in between and currently trying to find by identity based on my past and future journeys.

I chose to represent my maturing through the lenses of glasses; I can now see the world from a new perspective. The girl wearing the glasses represents me. She is in black and white in order to focus the attention on the lenses, which are my past and future that make up who I am. The easiness and playfulness of my childhood is represented by clouds, a swing, and analogous playful colors in one lens of the glasses, and the continuation of the path in the other lens consists of darker and cooler colors.

These colors along with the mountains and trees in the “future” lens represent the more difficult challenges I will start having to face as an adult. There is a small portion of light blue in the “past lens” to contrast with the orange. This symbolizes the clashing that sometimes occurs between my childhood and adult identities. The child-like bangs on the adult face also represent the conflict between childhood and adulthood.

So, I am not just a teenager. I am my past journey and my future journey together. I now look at life through new lenses. My childhood and the way I will continue to mature are make up my identity.

Sararose Fox, The Emery/Weiner School

First Place (MS), Drawing and Painting

Untitled

Acrylic Paint

The piece that I made is a world that is made of foot prints. The world represents that Jews all over make their mark on society and leave an impact. The footprints represent the journey everyone makes. The journey is never finished just like the outside in black. If you step back and look at the painting you see a world, but if you look closely you can see individual foot prints. That represents that as one person or as one Jew we are a small impact but if we come together on our life journey we are a big community and we can be something bigger than anyone of us could have become individually. This painting shows how I imagine my life journey and that I hope to make an impact as a person and a Jew.

Rebecca Bernstein, The Emery/Weiner School

Second Place (MS), Drawing and Painting

Etz Hayim

Pencil, Watercolors

My piece is called “Etz Hayim”. I named it that because woven in between the tree, it says, “Tree of Life.” In the middle of the root, however, it says “Jewish,” which specifies that type of life in the roots. It is meant to represent how Jews today use our roots of our ancestors to flourish and blossom into a beautiful and plentiful tree of life. The branches of the tree are roads, and they represent the different roads that different Jews take to get to different places and to reach different goals. Jews are always migrating, and they are also always on a journey. I incorporated the idea of Journey in not just one Jew’s life, but all Jews different paths in life. I used pencil for the outline of my tree, and then I used watercolors to make the picture stand out.

Noah Jordan, The Adelson Educational Campus

Third place (MS), Drawing and Painting

Untitled

I feel that my painting is more unique and original than anything you have ever seen before. I would like to first explain how my picture came to be and then explain the picture. When I heard about the RAVSAK art contest I had no idea what to draw. There are so many good Jewish stories to pick from and I simply was not able to settle my mind on just one story. I came up with the idea of just painting as many as possible, and that’s what you see in my picture. My picture has nine Jewish journeys from all over the Bible. Some are from the same person like all of Moses journey, the burning bush, when he split the sea, and the ten commandments. Others are just from other stories all across the Bible like Adam and Eve, Jonah and the giant fish, the Israelites surviving Hanukkah, Abraham's sacrifice to god, and the Jewish people living in sukkahs. Each story touches my heart in a different way, but my favorite one is Noah for his story teaches valuable lesson that I a fellow Noah have incorporated into my life, and I like the way I drew his picture. Each picture is represented in broken pieces of glass showing that even though the stories may be different, the glasses are broken in different ways, when put together they all show one message of journey through the bible, broken glass being put back to form real glass. Thank you for letting me participate in this competition and please enjoy my picture.

Mickayla Marcus, Solomon Schechter Academy

First Place (ES), Drawing and Painting

Untitled

Abram is taking a journey through the desert to go to find a new home. Abram, Sarai, and Lot take their sheep and their belongings and go to Canaan. They left to go to Canaan because G-d told them to leave Abram’s birthplace, his father’s home and his land. Abram had his named changed to Abraham and Sarai’s name changed to Sarah. Abraham listened to G-d because he believed that G-d was powerful.

My watercolor is of how I imagined the journey to look like at that time. It is very hot and they need to take all their possessions on their journey to the new land.

My personal journey is of my Grandfather coming to live with me and my family. We converted my toy room to be his room and made a bathroom for him from a closet. It is a lot of change but I like having him live with us. I get to see him every day.

Jacob Shaked, Hochberg Preparatory School

Second Place (ES), Drawing and Painting

Untitled

Gouche Paint

For my project I selected the painting option. My painting relates to the journey in the Jewish history because I painted the splitting of the sea. In this part of Jewish history Moses is leading Bnei Israel through the splitting sea in order to get away from the Egyptians. The materials I used were a canvas, gouche paint, and paintbrushes. I used the canvas to paint on and I used different colors of gouche paint to make my painting colorful, of course the paintbrushes were for painting. Conclusion, I made a painting to represent the splitting of the sea.

Third Place (ES), Drawing and Painting

Simon Meyers, Austin Jewish Academy

Untitled

Crayon on Paper

When I went on my journey, I and only I saw a majestic beautiful unicorn prancing in the field with its daughter. I also saw one unique daddy bunny and its babies. I only saw one kind of tree.

Miriam Lupovitch, Frankel Jewish Academy

First Place (HS), Mixed Media and Sculpture

On the Edge

Photography, glass, keys, stones

When I took this picture over a year ago I was in Israel standing on the shore on the Mediterranean Sea. It was near the end of eighth grade and soon afterwards I would be starting high school. When I initially took the picture I thought it symbolized me standing on the edge of a huge transition about to take a giant leap into the unsure waters of a whole new world. Now I know that it symbolizes so much more than just the gap between middle school and high school. This is the moment when Abraham was about to leave his homeland behind. That split second before he stepped out of his home, his comfort zone, the place where he had prospered for so many years, into the unknown land that G-d was going to show him. To me it's not just one moment in my life. It is the constant fear of plunging into the waters of the unknown, never knowing if the water is too cold or if the current will be too powerful. The anxiety of not knowing plus the fear that I won't even make it into the water and will instead land on the sharp rocks is something I continuously struggle with. Similar to how Abraham had to have faith that G-d would take care of him and lead him in the right direction. I have to have faith in myself and hope that I will guide myself through the waters safely. Even though the current might be pushing against me and the bottom might be rocky, I have to believe that I will find my way in the end. The jagged pieces of of glass in between the shore and the water symbolize the obstacles with which I have had to struggle in order to take the leap into the water. The rocks and keys surrounding my shoes symbolize how only I hold the key to discovering my path to the future which is represented by the water. Just like how Abraham did not know what obstacles he would have to overcome to make it to the holy land. All Abraham knew was that his faith in God was the key to his safe passage into the land of Israel. Abraham and I are alike in that way because in a moment of huge change we both had to connect to our faith in God but also our faith in ourselves to make the right choice and take the leap into the waters of the unknown.

Sarah Broner, Frankel Jewish Academy

Second Place (HS), Mixed Media and Sculpture

Destination?

Acrylic and glass mosaic

When I entered the ninth grade, I knew that I was embarking on a journey, but where that journey would take me was ambiguous. When my parents dropped me off on the first day of high school, they did not have any set path in mind; they just wanted me to receive a superior education. So many aspects of my four year journey were unknown to me; all I knew was that I would arrive at the same building every morning at 7:30 to learn. I wondered, would I finish my four year journey knowing more about science or history, Hebrew or math? Little did I know that I would learn more about myself during these four years than I could learn from studying in any class. Just as God told Abraham to go forth on his journey without providing a specific destination, my high school journey has allowed me to learn more about my uniqueness without forcing a destination upon me. This journey without a destination, though initially frustrating, has allowed me to grow and develop into the person that I now know I am. I created a silhouette of the back of my head and used abstract colors and shapes to portray my journey. There are splashes of color found throughout my hair because though my hair is brown like many other people, I know that there is something special that separates me from everyone else. In addition, the background of the canvas contains gold, silver, and sprinkles of bright colors symbolizing my realization that I am unique.

Diane Shmoysh, The Emery/Weiner School

Third Place (HS), Mixed Media and Sculpture

The Bird

Clay and glaze

I created this piece using clay which I formed into the shape of a branch and a bird. I then carved and attached more clay to create the details of my piece before firing it in the kiln and gazing it. My piece depicts the journey that the Jewish people have experienced for thousands of years. It is a part of our culture to travel. We wandered the desert, fled from one persecution to another and one country to the next. Each of us also has our own internal journeys as we struggle with God; such is our name – Israel.

But this everlasting odyssey of our people is tiresome and, as with any journey, we need our rest. It is beneficial to stop, take a breath, and enjoy the world around us for that brief moment in history when we do not find ourselves running away from danger or searching for a safe harbor. Even birds, who migrate immense distances, stop to rest under the protection of a tree branch before continuing on with their journey. So, we too, must stop; take a deep breath and enjoy life while we can. God will be our branch, protecting us while we take these few precious moments and live.

Sol Manor, Sinai Akiba Academy

First Place (MS), Mixed Media and Sculpture

Courage in a Suitcase

Cardstock, Felt, Print labels, Glue-gun, Shadow-frame, Old suitcase, Toys, Velcro, Printer

I chose to make a mixed media project based on the Jewish journey of my family. The main idea I focused on was the fact that each generation of my family has moved and lived in different countries around the world, while still continuing the Jewish traditions that have been passed on. I am a first generation American, my father is a first generation Israeli and my mother was born fourth generation British, we are always packing suitcases. I chose to use a suitcase to represent the travels of my family who are always on the move. Whether it’s packing for the transport to the ghettos in Poland or the concentration camps of Germany, or to fight in the Second World War, or go on a family vacation or to immigrate to a new country and opportunity, generations of my family are always packing a suitcase with their most treasured belongings’. The suitcase also represents the unending continuity of Judaism. No matter where the generations of our family have moved, we “carry" our Jewish identity and traditions like a suitcase. Our family are wandering Jews.

One of the most precious suitcases packed in my family was the suitcase of my Saba Dan who had packed a case of toys for my father Arnon for his trip to Israel on the maiden voyage of the Dakar, the suitcase never made its way to my Dad as the submarine disappeared on its way home.

My mixed media project is represented in the following ways;

The suitcase is to represent the packing of personal precious items. The flags on the suitcase represent each of the places that my family has lived in or been

born in. The luggage labels represent some of the countries my family have travelled to or lived

in. Each toy in the suitcase represents the occupation of someone in my family. The toys also represent the suitcase of toys my Saba Dan was bringing to my Aba. There is a passport for each member of my family representing the countries around the

world that they were born in and lived in, as well as their occupation and other interesting facts about them.

The family tree frame inside the suitcase connects the family on all sides; it is the root of my family. It is made in a shadow frame with a felt backing.

Debra Lederman, The Emery/Weiner School

First Place (MS), Mixed Media and Sculpture

Untitled

Collage and colored pencil

My painting symbolizes how the young woman is looking forward to where her Jewish journey will take her. She looks up to her ancestors for spiritual guidance as she walks her own journey through life. In my painting, there is a collage of different maps of the journey the Israelites took to reach the promised land. I have drawn two women in colored pencil, which I have placed on top of the map collage.

David Stronck, The Emery/Weiner School

Third Place (MS), Mixed Media and Sculpture

SS Saint Louis

I drew the SS Saint Louis with a regular pencil. I used a light blue to draw the sky and I collaged the ocean with dark blue, turquoise, and purple tissue paper. I think that this represents the journey that Jews took from Nazi Germany to the USA. The Jews took a long and emotional journey to start anew in America to escape the tortures of camps. The journey of fortunate Jews was long and hard and the ship represents a safe haven that transported the Jews from evil.

Joli Reiman, Jordan Schildcrout, Sophie Krajmalnik, Ann & Nate Levine Academy

First Place (ES), Mixed Media and Sculpture

The Circle of Marriage

Fabric Collage

Our fabric collage, The Circle of Marriage, is about the journey of marriage. In the beginning, there is a wedding, which is represented by the bride, groom, and their rings. In the middle, the couple and their children purchase a house. In the end, it shows the couple’s family. To represent this, I made a family tree. I like how I made the family tree is quite literal-I made a tree showing the family. I learned the skills of special relationship and flexibility. I came across challenges, such as pieces not fitting, losing small pieces and having to make new ones, changing ideas, and playing around with placing the pieces together. If I could change one part about my piece, I would make it bigger (as in having more room to work with). I’m detail oriented and like adding lots of details. With the amount of room I had, I wasn’t very pleased with the face because I couldn’t get many tiny details on it. Overall, though, I am very happy with my piece of art, the Circle of Marriage.

My theme was marriage. My Mom and Dad inspired me to pick marriage. I always wanted to represent my Jewish culture. This was the perfect solution. I owe true thankfulness to my amazing partners. I based the project on the value of marriage. I loved working with my friends. I would love to make another collage bigger. I learned the true importance of marriage in the Jewish culture.

My theme in our fabric collage is Marriage. I chose it because one day I will get married. To do my project I had to measure and work confidently. To make this successful we had to compromise, we had to work on different stages. I think texture is important because it would look more realistic. My favorite part was working with partners because then we could get to know each other better.

Avi Shuman, Akiva School

Second Place (ES), Mixed Mesia and Sculpture

Untitled

Clay, paint

I chose to make this siddur because a siddur takes you on a journey through the year. It has prayers for everyday and special holidays. There are prayers for when special things happen to you in your life. Every day can be a journey to get closer to G-d and you use the prayers in a siddur to take you on that journey. For the siddur I used clay and paint because I wanted to make it look like a real siddur.

Noami Seligman, Carmel Academy

Third place (ES), Mixed Media and Sculpture

Untitled

Watercolor and marker on paper

Hush, quiet, not a sound

Orange, purple in the sky

Noisy, pretty and loud, far away in the city

I can feel the cool breeze

I can taste the sweet apples

In the water the boat sails

In the distance I see two sheep grazing calmly in the

green grass

Traveling is hard and now I see why

Night has fallen and everything is silent

Shannon Saffer, San Diego Jewish Academy

First Place (HS), Photography and Digital Art

Untitled

Digital Photography, Layering

The thing about the Abraham that struck me the most was the concept of a journey. In my life, I too am on a journey. My personal belief is that in this world, everyone has their own journey but we are all intertwined. The girl represents me, but she is unaware of where she is going. She is facing towards the road, showing progress. The road represents the journey, and it is a dirt road to represent that the journey isn’t always easy or a well paved road. The scarf flowing in the girls hands represents freedom to me. We all have the freedom to choose how our journey ends, which can be seen in the story of Abraham. Abraham was controlling his fate, with the help of G-d. The most interesting part about my photo, however, is the sky. I wanted the sky to be awe inspiring. I often times look up to the sky when I want to feel closer to my version of “G-d” for two main reasons. First, looking up to the sky allows me to gain an understanding of how small I am in the grand scheme of things. When I think about all of the galaxies, stars, and planets I feel special because I am my own universe here on this Earth.

Second, when I look to the sky I am in awe at the natural beauty of nature and the way that the world works. I feel at one with myself and the world around me, which is why I decided to put a magnificent sunset in the background. I feel that these two skies combined create an experience that represent how my relationship to G-d feels.

Olivia Lerner, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School

Second Place (HS), Photography and Digital Art

Moment of Silence

This photograph, “Moment of Silence”, shows the journey that all Jews come upon at some point throughout their lives: The subject of this photo has taken a brief pause to recognize the world around her. She may have approached a standstill in her faith, but as she looks around, she appreciates the world that God has created. Just like all other Jews, the subject of this photo has realized the reason for which she has embarked upon her journey: her love and faithfulness for God.

Jessica Snouwaert, American Hebrew Academy

Third Place (HS), Photography and Digital Art

The man in my photograph is shown taking a journey by himself, just as Abraham had to take a journey that was unlike those around him seeing as though Abraham had to make a new journey in which he leaves behind his land, his birthplace, and home in the passage Lekh Lekha. When looking at this picture we have to speculate what this man is leaving behind him and what sort of circles (i.e. land, birthplace, and home) does he leave? He looks like an observant Jew, so perhaps he like Abraham is leaving behind old ways to come into a new life as an observant Jew. Or perhaps the opposite, maybe he is leaving his observant way of life to a new sort of living. When Abraham had views that were different than the worldview, he decided to follow his beliefs and the values God wanted him to have. The man in the picture probably has his own beliefs, values, which separate him from others views. These views are probably consistent with the way he observes Judaism.

Another reason for his journey may be that he, like Sefat Emet says that we need to challenge ourselves, is to follow the process of continual improvement. He may be going to some sort of religious pilgrimage in order to “renew” himself. If this is the case he may want to get to Jerusalem since this picture was taken in Sfat. It is also said that home is an end not a beginning. Perhaps this man wants to find a new or different type of home. As Abraham started his journey he had to move past his uncertainties and doubts about leaving. In order to take this journey the man in the picture may have to overcome ridicule, self-doubt, or unhappiness from his family in order to take this journey. He may also have fear that when he is finished with his journey he will be changed and sometimes change can be frightening. Other fears he has may be related to the idea that it’s “easier for a person to leave his land if the destination is known” does this man know his destination. If he does he may not know how to get there so the path may be unknown. If he doesn’t know the destination altogether it may be because he is fleeing. Spirituality is said to be a going out not a staying home. Similar to an earlier conjecture that this journey was some sort of religious pilgrimage it could be more of a sort of personal religious journey, more spiritual, and in order to grow spiritually one must put themselves in new environments and see things in new ways, a journey is a powerful way to do this.