This page
contains both a representation of ALEPH,
the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet
and THE PEARLS OF WISDOM, an end plate.
THE
LETTERS OF FOUNDATION
a
contemporary interpretation of the ancient Hebrew alphabet
Aleph-Bet
was but one fact of our
site-specific, multi-media installation
commissioned by Yeshiva University Museum, NYC
for their 1993-94 exhibition,
AISHET HAYIL/WOMAN OF VALOR.
"Lynn Small and Dennis
Paul pay tribute to an Israeli weaver
by interpreting the letters of the cabala with mixed media collages
for each letter..."
Nancy Kapitanoff
Los Angeles Times
November 11, 1994
Our
showing of the
Letters of Foundation
The Jewish Federation
of Greater Los Angeles
Inaugural Exhibition - Bell Gallery,
12/2000 - 6/2001
"Tradition and Transformation"
A
previous showing of the
Letters of Foundation
at
San Francisco's Bureau of Jewish Education
exhibition
" The Art of the Alef-Bet"
IT IS OUR HOPE THAT THEY MAY SERVE
AS OUR SHIBBOLETH
TO THE NEVER-ENDING STREAM OF CREATIVITY
THAT HAS FLOWED FROM BEFORE TIME.
According to Kabbalistic thought, prior to creation,
God created the Letters of Foundation.
It is in the combination of these letters from which
everything within creation was formed.
In effect, they are the protoplasm of all that was,
all that is and all that will be.
Thirty-two artists from around the world were invited to create a
visual interpretation of a line from the WOMAN OF VALOR poem.
The last chapter of Proverbs, this famous ode to women
is a twenty-two verse acrostic from A [Aleph] to Z [Taf] .
We were immediately drawn to the last lines of the poem,
the Shin and the Taf:
GIVE HER BUT THE FRUIT OF HER OWN HANDS
AND LET HER BE PRAISED
IN THE GATES
BY HER VERY DEEDS
The exhibition was dedicated to the fiber artist,
Julia Keiner Forchheimer (1900 - 1991)
who emigrated to Palestine from her native Germany in 1936.
That same year, Ms. Keiner - an award winning teacher -
created the Handweaving Department
in the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem.
She is well known in Israel for her work with indigenous
natural fibers that stressed the interrelationship of
color, texture and function.
Collaborating since the mid-seventies
-- when we received joint fellowships to YADDO,
a Saratoga Springs, NY creative community retreat --
we felt that opening our collaboration to include the recently
deceased JULIA,
to whom the WOMAN OF VALOR exhibition was dedicated,
might allow us to connect with the creative wellspring
which passes from generation to generation.
OPENING THE DOORWAY TO THE KABBALAH,
THE LETTERS MADE A MOST
INTERESTING COLLABORATION
AND THE FIRST STEPS ALONG
AN INTRIGUING PATH HAD BEGUN...
COMPLETE ALPHABET
©1993-2012 - CoLabART, D. Paul/Small - Lynn Small + Dennis Paul
All rights reserved.
