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Dec. 22, 2006
A new view of Torah
Zack exhibit combines seriousness and whimsy.
BAILA LAZARUS
It's always interesting to talk to an artist who's successful in
a type of work that they initially had given up on years ago. Such
is the case with Nomi Kaplan, currently exhibiting Torah Studies:
Photographs and Constructions at the Jewish Community Centre of
Greater Vancouver.
In a discussion about her background, Kaplan recalled watching her
mother work as a photographer in a studio she had opened in Williamstown,
Ont.
"I determined, watching her, that I would never be a photographer,"
said Kaplan. She was bothered by the effect the harsh chemicals
had on her mother's health. Later on, when she started studying
art as a young adult, an instructor told her she would never amount
to a successful commercial artist. "I was devastated,"
said Kaplan, and she gave up on the idea for a decade.
After meeting her husband and moving to Vancouver in 1955, however,
she started taking classes at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily
Carr Institute of Art and Design), and the choice took her back
into photography. Since then, she has worked in a variety of media,
including many years in film, as well as painting, sculpture and
photography. In 2002, her exhibit Off the Wall, also at the JCC's
Zack Gallery, included collages of photographs taken of New York
walls, depicting torn posters, with the photographs themselves being
torn and then superimposed with other images. About six years ago,
she said, she went through a "dry period" and took a course
on creativity. It was then that she started exploring the Torah
as an artistic subject.
"It reminded me of my grandfather," she said, referring
to her Lithuanian opa (grandfather) who had rescued two Torahs
in the early 20th century. Out of that, grew, literally, a series
of Torahs that she made in her backyard out of earth and plants,
such as dandelions or strawberries, and then photographed over the
course of five years.
"It was the beginning of a beginning of a beginning,"
she said. She then explored how the Torahs could be fashioned out
of aluminum wire and mesh. "The kind you use for window screens,
if you're a normal person," she said, jokingly.
"Dandelion Torah" and "Seeded Torah" show a
combination of the earth-connected Torah scrolls and the use of
aluminum for shape. But the exhibit also has some interesting Asian
influences.
Kaplan's first, albeit brief, introduction to Asia was when she
was a young girl and her family secured visas from the Japanese
consul to Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara, in order to flee Europe in
1940. They went over land to Japan, before making the journey to
reunite with the rest of their family in Ontario. A 2004 visit to
Japan kindled a desire in Kaplan to include Japanese iconography
in her work, therefore, many of the Torahs exhibited have a Japanese
influence, such as a shape reminiscent of a Shinto shrine or decoration
that includes Japanese motifs.
"I'm most happy with the Japanese work. I'd like the people
at the Sugihara Museum to know they're not forgotten," she
said.
Other Torahs in the show have colorful streamers draped over them
or hanging from the edges, to evoke a playful spirit. "Tokyo
Bound," for example, is a Japanese version of Simchat Torah,
Kaplan said.
Overall, the exhibit is an exploration of an ancient Jewish symbol
and how its imagery can be altered, while still being respectful
to its origins. And though some of the work may appear irreverent,
Kaplan said she was really just trying to explore her feelings through
art.
"There were things I did just for fun, and things I did for
more fun, and then there were really outlandish things that didn't
make it into the exhibit," she said, laughing.
Torah Studies will be showing at the Zack Gallery until Jan. 17.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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