Ongepatchket | אָנגעפאטשקעט | נקוד וטלוא

Jerusalem Theatre Gallery, till June 11, 2013

When Jacob negotiated with his nasty father-in-law Laban, he chose the decorative spotted and patched sheep and goats as salary. He left those with Minimalist aesthetics for his in-laws. Indeed, Jacob showed talent at encouraging the flock to reproduce with even more resplendent patches.

Following our forefather’s example, I explore the world of pattern and ornament, as a vehicle of artistic, emotional and ideological expression.

I had my first encounter with patchwork when my Mom gave me some old wallpaper catalogs. My scissors and glue had always worked overtime, but the mess was more than she expected. In desperation, she cried, “Stop patchkying around!”

Patchkerei: Yiddish for making a big fuss with lots of details. From Old German patch.

Mom often dragged me to antique shops valuing my 8 year old opinion. Victorian treasures and monstrosities could still be purchased for pennies. If something was particularly dripping with poorly applied ornament, we would laugh,

“It’s sooooo ongepatchket!”

Ongepatchket: Yiddish, over decorated, fussy.

So how do all of these stories “patch” together?

I am an artist creating HERE - in our noisy, colorful, intimate, dressed-in-schmattes Holy Land. 

I often work by layer upon layer of patterned patches; ripping and unraveling the image, then gently “sewing” it together. I like paintings with something missing, spontaneous, with a turbulent undercurrent, yet somehow full of joy.