Permanent Artworks

In collaboration with theater director Francesca Camozzi and with designer Susanna Gibson, I created a participatory artwork  which was permanently installed in the nursery of the  Lubavitch Childrens Centre in February 2020. Through a series of art workshops with the nursery children, members of staff and parents, the modular elements of the artwork were created. The concept of the piece was creating a chandelier-like sculpture inspired by the ten Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, whose structure was based on the mystical numbers of the Hanukkah Menorah, and whose shape suggested both flames and the petals of the sacred almond tree. A perfect reflection of the collectively shared, growing lights of the Hannukah, this project also grew though the addition of a unique painted flame by each participant, young or older. The framework of the sculpture was an interpretation of the Menorah, hinting at the mystical symbol of the Tree of Life, but drawing inspiration from the art history as well, specifically, Calder’s stylized tree-like mobiles. Children created semi-transparent, painted flames/petals, that were attached to the Tree-of-Life sculpture. Adults created more sophisticated flames, using glass-paint on transparent acetate.The painting enhanced the effect of light passing though colours, thus hinting to a prismatic, essentialised understanding of light, which alludes to the symbolized Creative Light of Hanukkah. The painted frames were created by adults during the evening of the Hannukah celebration, adding to the symbolism of the piece. The art piece has complex layers of meaning and symbolism, which was presented to the children in a relatable way, through movement and imagery (including play and shadow-theater in workshops created by Francesca Camozzi). The final result was a collective participatory art piece, whose complexity increased with the ayers of meaning added by the particiapants, ans which remains as a permanent art piece in the nursery.