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February 6, 2004
Notions of the needle trades
Current Van East Cultural Centre exhibit sews bittersweet memories.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Nine women sit stitching on stools, each identical in posture and
profile, yet their creations are each distinctive. The tableau,
a fabric appliqué by Vancouver artist Sima Elizabeth Shefrin,
suggests the unity of the women as they share a pastime in the needlecrafts,
but reinforces the uniqueness of each handmade item. Each wom-an's
name is stitched above her in golden thread, a symbol, Shefrin said,
of their importance as individuals.
"Their names are stitched in gold because each one is a very
precious individual human being, a concept that sometimes gets lost
in the factory or even in the work world today," Shefrin said
in an e-mail interview with the Bulletin.
The small, quilt-like depiction is titled "Chava, Pearl, Devorah,
Esther, Zissel, Ite, Rochl, Sima and Fruma," and is part of
Shefrin's exhibit with two other artists currently at the Vancouver
East Cultural Centre gallery.
Individuality and shared occupation are themes of the exhibit, Sewing
Memories, which Shefrin shares with fellow artists Daphne Harwood
and Donna Redlick. Harwood's art consists of cloth with Xerox transfers,
mostly dealing directly with the history of the textile industry,
including images of old factories and equipment, which has a remarkable
resonance when transferred onto quilted or appliquéd cloth.
Redlick, whose art is inspired by the hours she spent in her mother's
sewing room, "creates textured imagery by adorning surfaces
with dressmaker patterns," according to her artist's statement.
But it is Shefrin's works of appliqué on cloth that reflect
the importance of textiles to the Jewish tradition, both as livelihood
and handicraft.
"I grew up in a family of sewers, quilters, seamstresses, tailors,
etc.," said Shefrin. "It's just what people around me
did on both the Jewish and non-Jewish sides of the family. So images
of sewing are very, very etched in my consciousness."
In addition to women and girls stitching at home, Shefrin depicts,
in "The Tailor," a man in traditional Jewish garb of the
1800s working independently on a tweed jacket, with gold scissors
and scraps of fabric at his feet. The tailor is framed by a large
surrounding mat of fabric, which could be seen as a symbol of the
tailor's separateness from the world around him, as he is deeply
involved in his handiwork.
In "Piece Work at Home III," Shefrin depicts four figures
sewing, with five cups on a shelf, a rustic image that seems bittersweet,
like most of this exhibit. Piece work was low-paying and tiresome
work, providing necessary but paltry income for generations of Jewish
and other women. Yet while needlework was at times a necessary occupation
of near-slavery, it was also a craft, an art form, a source of fellowship
and a way for women to not only clothe their families but to express
their own creativity. "In the Doorway," a depiction of
an old woman in a bubushka with a nearly completed jacket on her
lap but piles of unfinished material remaining to be dealt with,
could be a happy image of plentiful fabric with which to provide
for a family or a sad measure of work left to be finished. Shefrin
seems happy to leave that to the viewer.
"Piece work was always laborious and poorly paying," she
said. "If the image has a warm and inviting quality, it's the
family that manages to keep together, the mothers who raised their
children with love and determination under conditions that were
less than ideal."
For better or for worse, the needle trades were central to the Jewish
experience.
"I have a lot of admiration for the Jewish garment workers
who were so active in the labor movement early in the 20th century,"
Shefrin said. "As an artist who has the luxury to use fabric
as an art form, I like to pay tribute to them. Also I feel very
committed to the preservation of Yiddishkeit, of Jewish cultural
history and this is my way of doing it."
For the people in Shefrin's art, sewing was foremost a livelihood,
she said, and the Jewish community has moved beyond the sweatshops
and piece work of the past. But other communities have replaced
them.
"Thankfully we are not in the sweatshop any longer, but other
people are, even right here in Vancouver," said Shefrin. "And
this is something we need to be aware of. That human beings are
still working in these conditions is not a happy thought. On the
other hand, stitching today as an art form is thriving – nothing
to be sad about there. And Jewish culture is bittersweet and I do
try to convey that in my work."
Though these issues come up while experiencing this exhibit, Shefrin
maintains she does not produce these works through an intellectual
process.
"Usually my hands and my heart know what I'm doing long before
it reaches my head," she said.
Sewing Memories continues until Feb. 25 at the Vancouver East Cultural
Centre, 1895 Venables St. (at Victoria). Gallery hours are Monday
to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or call 604-251-1363 for possible
evening and weekend times.
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
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