WORK-IN-PROGRESS Asher Lev

I've been collaborating with Theatre UnSpeakAble on this physical melodrama adaptation of the book "My name is Asher Lev" by Chaim Potok.
The process of this collaboration has been rewarding and challenging in different ways, giving me a chance to dig deep in the various aspects of being an artist.  What does it mean to be an artist? How do you hunt for expression and how do you gather all that you find withIN and withOUT yourself? How do you find meaning and purpose in what you do?  Where is the balance between what you feel, what you think and what you do?  How do you integrate the spiritual side into the mundane life?
We research, we discuss the book, we identify with the characters and the circumstances, we create physical images, sounds, space, we use our body and voice and intellect, we dance, we sing, we play, we draw, we look for a story to tell within the story, we integrate our experiences with each other, we feel the presence of the book and his author and we're driven by curiosity.  Everyone is different but we're all one.  We share universal problems and joys.
Here's my attempt to sketch Asher Lev's ancestor...symbolizing a line of his fathers, present in the history of this world, there to watch the moves, reminding Asher of his responsibilities towards the Jewish people and its traditions.  Maybe this ancestor is showing Asher his shadow....what he is not...seeing his shadow is possible because of the light in Asher...  The light of his gift, being an artist, against the shadow of orthodox views of what being an artist might mean.

"...slight of body and huge of head, with eyelids swollen from lack of sleep, face pale, lips dry, the veins showing blue along his cheeks and temples..." ("My name is Asher Lev" )

A BIT MORE ABOUT MY SHOW

Everything is a process, each day is part of a bigger journey and I use my art to bring awareness to every moment.

The subjects shown at this moment are centered around my integration in this strange city of Chicago, strange simply because it’s not my hometown, and how it’s becoming more and more familiar to me through my own work .  These are all sketches and photographs that depict random moments of my life in Chicago:

the series of CHICAGO POSTCARDS in black and white;

 the series of BOOJUM!, a 6 Jeff Award nominations show I choreographed;

and “THE BREATH OF THE DANCER”, part of a project that shows the different elements of her life as a performer, in this case, repetition.

SHOW TIME at Broadway Cellars Restaurant

Come and see my first Chicago show with some sketches and photographs, inspired by my very own kind of town...CHICAGO!
My pictures have been up on the cool walls of this great restaurant in my neighborhood since this April.  And will stay until June.
Please plan a good time with, food, wine and art at BROADWAY CELLARS at

5900 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60660


And here's a little preview for you...
Hope to see you there!

Met the deadline

We celebrated Tulja's birthday and it was wonderful.  We lucked out with the weather and were able to have a party at the playground with our good friends.  Tulja got so many wonderful presents but she still appreciated my crazy "collection journal/box" and has already created some collections.  

I'm still working on some pictures of the final product, but I can't say it's very photogenic... But here's the new development of this project.  I ended up creating boxes with shelves and put them in sheet protectors, some with different pockets to insert the mini collectibles and then bound (rather roughly) to make it look like a book.

working on a present for my daughter- part 2

Obviously I'm not done and the deadline is approaching...  Other creative projects interfered with this one...and also the unexpected summer in March, which caught us by surprise and took us outdoors day after day :) caused extra delay.
On a day at the beach with our friends we created a little story on the sand...about a man with the bike helmet, a kitten, a sailboat and a nest of rocks (or was it a pirate's treasure?)...

Now the Chicago spring is back with its rainy days and chilly temperatures and so I'm back to glossing, glueing, cutting and drawing boxes....Here's just a tiny progress in my project...I am trying to glue my "precious" paper collectibles onto contact paper, instead of normal paper...I guess what I'm trying to achieve is a homemade sticker... a bit thicker and probably not as tacky.

I also started sketching ideas for the notebook/journal where my daughter will collect her stickers...
Right now they're made out recycled paper of different sizes, and I drew 4 kinds of boxes on them. I might keep this idea or not...I will eventually do just drawing of shelfs instead of a box.  But here's some quick snapshots of the work in progress for the journal portion.

More to come soon, I hope!

working on a present for my daughter

Lately my little girl has been fascinated with collages...Every day after school she brings me pieces of paper, randomly covered with foam cut out shapes, beads, letters, strips of paper.  As much as I love my daughter and think she's an extraordinary little artist ( I will eventually post some of her best works), these collages she did in school did not seem very inspired to me...
So after a trip to the fantastic art institute, visiting several exhibitions, we also saw Joseph Cornell famous boxes ( http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/artist/1606 )...and were also able to play with the idea of creating your own "Cornell" box on the computer.  Well, my daughter loved it and it was quite fun watching her compose this box...even though the choices of materials and elements to include were not infinite, it seemed that she could create an infinite selection of boxes.
She shows me this passion for putting random objects, toys, together to create something new and meaningful to her, everyday when she plays alone.  The same toys take on new adventures and roles...a lego piece one moment can be part of the structure to build the Rupunzel tower...and the next moment it's a spectator in a theater, watching some ponies performing an opera.  And her colorful drawings are so rich of various elements, so different from and in times in contrast with each other, yet all together they make for a very strong composition.
So, I'm curious to  keep exploring this passion of hers and stimulate her to continue on. Inspired by her, Joseph Cornell, and my own interest in collecting what I like, I had this idea of creating an album/journal, each page looking like the inside of the box.  Throughout the journal there will be pockets full of tiny treasures,objects,pictures, accessories, that I have cut out. And hopefully my daughter will have fun playing, collecting and composing each page of the journal as she wishes.  And as she becomes more and more capable with scissors she will be able to cut her own very collectible paper treasures.
Today I'm gonna post some blurry pictures of the beginning of my project...so far I have cut out many images from magazines I own and last night I've started working with the gloss, in the attempt of protecting the otherwise fragile paper. Ideally I would like each piece to be reusable. I realized it's gonna take me some time to finish all the pieces....but as I sit with my brush in the fumes of the glue, I get to think about what the journal is gonna look like.
My deadline is April 15!