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Oct. 26, 2012
Noodles: share the joy
Sima Elizabeth Shefrin’s artwork adds flavor.
OLGA LIVSHIN
On Oct. 19, How to Know a Noodle opened at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery. The exhibit consists of artist Sima Elizabeth Shefrin’s original illustrations for Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook written by Jane Yolen, with the accompanying recipes provided by Yolen’s daughter, Heidi E.Y. Semple.
“This book is unique. It’s not just a collection of Jewish folk tales,” Shefrin told the Independent. “It also includes recipes, stories about the origins of those tales, as well as the historical sources of different foods mentioned in the book. It’s a celebration of one particular segment of Jewish culture – its culinary wealth…. The multiple vignettes of food the publisher asked me to make are a departure from my usual subject matter, but I’m delighted with the results. These vignettes add flavor to the stories.”
During the interview, Shefrin recited many of the tales she illustrated. Several are morality tales, while others are fables or droll anecdotes or sketches depicting darker aspects of Jewish humor. According to the stories, avarice is always punished and kindness always rewarded. Most of the tales stress the concept of sharing, an important element of Judaism’s worldview. Of course, all of the tales revolve around food. Rugelah and chicken, matzah and noodles – they represent the good life, an abundance many Jews could only dream about in eastern European shtetls.
For Shefrin, who cares deeply about her identity and social justice issues, this book is doubly important. “What makes this project special for me is that these are Jewish folk tales, and I’m a Jewish folk artist. I always have been, and this book brings together my love of book illustration and my Jewish theme,” she noted.” It also touches on the historical perspective, and I’ve always been interested in our history.”
In her illustrations, articles of clothing are reminiscent of centuries past, fitting for the old tales. The images are deceptively simple, delivered in Shefrin’s traditional style, simultaneously primitive and sophisticated. Created in her signature cut-paper collage technique, the pictures strike the right balance between following the writer’s words and allowing a viewer’s fantasy to run free.
“Each illustration captures a moment in a story,” Shefrin explained of her creative process. “But sometimes my pictures go beyond the story line, show what happened next. They don’t change the author’s words but they allow further development of the characters, although they have to stay inside the story’s logic.
“When I receive a book to illustrate from a publisher,” she continued, “I have to make it my own. I have to get inside the stories, to accept them the way they are. It takes discipline and, in the process, I make friends with the characters.”
Shefrin wants to share these friendships with anyone who opens the book or comes to the gallery. “If I managed to say something important to you with my illustrations, remind you of a particular moment or person, trigger a memory, then I’ve done well,” she mused. “With my pictures, I talk to people I never see. I don’t know them but I’m reaching them with my art.”
This cookbook is Shefrin’s fourth book project, although books are only a small part of her artistic work. Mostly, she is a fabric artist, creating wall hangings and quilts. Stylistically, her fabric art bears a surprising resemblance to her cut-paper images. “I like showing ordinary people at work, making ordinary things,” she explained. She even photographed some of the fabrics she loves so much for her illustrations.
Besides photographed fabrics, she uses various paper materials for her cut-paper representations. Origami paper and Venetian paper, Tibetan paper and paper bags from shops, handmade paper and cuttings from used magazines, comprise her artistic palette. “I’m always on the lookout for interesting paper, wherever I go,” she said with a smile.
Out of small paper snippets and glue, the artist’s clever hands create the pictures that show everyday people so dear to her heart. A baker sells her bagels, a family sits down to dinner, a rabbi invites his congregation to his home. Shefrin draws inspiration from the author’s plots and jokes, but she succeeds in making the characters uniquely her own.
“I never met the author, Jane Yolen,” Shefrin said, “so she couldn’t tell me how her characters look. My imagination was free to create the images I saw in the stories, but it had been an honor to illustrate her words, to share my vision of the tales.”
Shefrin also likes to share the joy of making art – both fabric art and book illustrations – with children and adults alike. The frequent workshops she offers are an extension of that desire. “Everyone is an artist,” she said with conviction. “My workshops remind people of that. That’s why I like family workshops. In art, children and parents are equal. Sometimes, children are better.”
She invites the community to attend a book-making workshop for families, Fantastic Fairy Tales and Fine Foods, at the Zack Gallery on Sunday, Nov. 4, 10-11:30 a.m. The exhibit runs until Dec. 2.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
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