exodus, 2017
Sheet lead, galvanized nails. 76” x 85” x ¼”
The title piece of three comprising Exodus Trilogy (exodus, faygele, /’faɡət/), an installation created on-site in the 10’x8’x10′ project room at UConn’s Benton Museum of Art. Searching for meaning and motivation in the wake of the 2016 Presidential election, I thought of the pile of toxic lead scraps left over in my studio. I associated its smoldering power with the burning bush from Exodus, as a fury that fuels without consuming. Organized by size, and nailed to the wall, the lead lashes made an inverted triangle, appearing as a defiant symbol of discarded and persecuted communities.
faygele, 2017
Cast iron, sheet lead, painted wood. 4½” x 23” x 3½”
The second piece comprising Exodus Trilogy. Three unfinished iron casting of my daughter’s right hand hold small piles of half-oval lead sheet cutouts, salvaged from the same process that created the leftovers used for the title piece in the trilogy. Faygele is Yiddish for little bird, used as a term of endearment for a little girl, and as a derogatory epithet for a gay man, perhaps as a softer alliteration of /’faɡət/.
/’faɡət/, 2017
Sheet lead, cut nail. 11” x 4” x 1”
The third piece comprising Exodus Trilogy. Spelled phonetically to encourage viewers to Google it, the title points to the etymology of the word faggot, used to describe a bundle of sticks gathered for fuel, an impoverished old widow, and, along with faygele, a gay man.