Photography/Installations > TEARING

TEARING #1
TEARING #1
photography
approximately 14 feet x 14 inches
2019

In the Jewish tradition of Kriah, mourners tear their clothing when grieving. Eleven American, Jewish members of a synagogue in Pittsburgh and two American, Black citizens of Jeffersontown, Kentucky were murdered during a period of several days during October, 2018. The killers were motivated by anti-Semitism and racial hatred. I tore a shirt to grieve each person and to express my despair about the murders of people whose deaths are caused by hate.

shirt #1 Vickie Lee Jones

shirt #2 Maurice E. Stallard

shirt #3 Bernice Simon

shirt #4 Sylvan Simon

shirt #5 Melvin Wax

shirt #6 Daniel Stein

shirt #7 Irving Younger

shirt #8 Rose Mallinger

shirt #9 Jerry Rabinowitz

shirt #10 Joyce Fienberg

shirt #11 Richard Gottfried

shirt #12 Cecil Rosenthal

shirt #13 David Rosenthal

I am deeply aware of the long history of racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism that exists in the United States. Violence is pervasive and politicized. And yet, at the same time, there are voices seeking peace and justice in an effort to connect all of us to one another. Perhaps while we seem so divided these days, the forces of compassion will unite and help us create stronger communities of belonging.