abenjami

Shehecheyanu
This piece has gone through quite a few iterations, and I’m super proud to be sharing it yet again. Shehecheyanu is an act of gratitude upon having reached this moment. Neither an end nor a beginning. An acknowledgment of how far I’ve come, and the unknown ahead.
This motif has been a sanctuary for me for the last 9 years. A place of safety, of control and structure. Every return brings me something new, a new awareness, a renewed reminder, a different perspective, a new way of seeing the same.
I’ve gone through a lot this last year especially, and this piece persists in its resonance. Life is hard. The unknown is terrifying. And yet, there are new colors, new patterns, new shapes just out of reach, ready for whatever comes next.

Shehecheyanu
Handmade translucent abaca paper with colored pencil and two layers of hand cut handmade recycled kozo paper
2023
Framed in a hardwood oak light box frame, made by me

See this piece and more works by me and six other incredible artists through March 7th
Tacit Knowledge
3rd Floor Gallery
Curated by
7 years West Bay View Foundation Fellows
.krukowski SR Lejeune

When I first began to express my values and beliefs through my art practice, I had many doubts. I worried if people would relate, if they would care, if they would listen to what I had to say. Over time, I learned that the way I express myself, through images and words, resonated with you. When I got started with Prints for Protest in 2016, it was a gut reaction of visual responses to trauma, and I truly began to understand the power of images, and the responsibility of an artist.
Even though my Grandma Rhoda didn’t always understand my artwork, she was the one who helped form my understanding of activism through art. There was a magnet she kept on her fridge that read the Hillel quote: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?”
When I would feel overwhelmed by the pressure of my work, and the responsibility and expectations I put on myself, Grandma Rhoda remained encouraging. She shared these words with me that she had found so helpful in her own persistence:
You are not obligated to finish the work,
but neither are you at liberty to neglect it
I have kept these words from Pirkei Avot close at heart over the last few years, through overwhelm and anxiety, as a gentle reminder. You don’t have to do everything, but you do have to do something. Release yourself from the expectation that the work will ever be finished. The work is to add your voice, to participate, to speak up.

Over the last two months, as I have shared my voice and expressed my beliefs based on the values instilled in me by my Jewish values and my family, I have lost significant business. I’ve been blocked, people have unsubscribed, and I’ve been told that my work will be unsupported this season.
I have faith that my community, and in turn my business, will be strengthened through all of this. I know I am not alone, and that many of you will join together with me. This time is horrible and hard and hurtful, and I will continue to stand by my beliefs and values.