TENDER is a sculptural confluence of several different forms and metaphors that reference my Ashkenazi Jewish lineage, relationships between parents and their children and the colonial appropriation of sacred symbols. I also explore the tension between the historical implications and physical properties of garlic skins and polyurethane

For this piece, I cast my body over a period of 5 years in the position in which I gave birth.  This figure is made out of 2 specific materials- polyurethane and garlic skin pulp. 

Polyurethane was first invented by German chemists during WW2. They experimented with hydrogen cyanide that resulted in both polyurethane for industrial uses and Zyklon B- used in the gas chambers during the Holocaust. 

Alternatively, garlic occupies a sacred, protective role in Ashkenazi dietary, medicinal and superstitious history. 

The goalie hovers within a Merkabah: A sacred geometric form made of two intersecting tetrahedrons.   The concept of the Merkabah was first described in Ezekiel 1, The Old Testament, and refers to a trans-dimensional chariot. This outer structure is made of steel and is meant to reference the frame of a goalie’s net. The Merkabah represents a portal that one can travel from the material to the spiritual realm.  

The state of Israel has named their newest and most powerful tank: The Merkava Mk4. It is known to be a pinnacle of modern tank warfare.