A window screen, unwoven in order to create a textile pattern that plays with the imagery of a young women's braids. The Braid is a multicultural ethnic symbol of tradition. It's technique, in its variations, are passed down from mother to daughter and through friends. Within ethnic groups it is symbolic of a young girl's status. In specific Jewish Hassidic and ultraorthodox Jerusalem communities, the braid is a symbol of modesty and of being a bachelorette. The braid is told to have formed the first ever wig used by a righteous bride in Europe when the Christians outlawed covering hair. In this piece the braid is entangled, used in a number of ways, and is formed through the act of unweaving, as a way to study the relationship of a culture to its passing on of tradition, making the old to fit into the new. This fits into the theme of Entanglement as discussed as part of the exhibition.
Yehudis Barmatz (1985) b. Boston MA. USA, moved to Israel in 2009, BFA Sculpture Pratt Institute Brooklyn, MART Leslie College, Netanya, Israel. Yehudis exhibited in multiple group exhibitions primarily in Israel and the United States and has written about Jewish Art on several online platforms promoting Jewish Art, based out of New York. Yehudis is a Jewish Art Salon Fellow, and a selected member of Studio of Her Own [organization for promoting religious women artists]. Yehudis is also a founding member of Artnachta, a community studio, geared to making art making more accessible for the ultraorthodox community. Yehudis Barmatz-Harris is a sculptor who works in new-media, assemblage, and as an installation artist. Her larger scale pieces include public and site-specific works. Yehudis investigates the essence of being through expressing dicotomity, using symbolic image and materials taken from Hassidic thought and psychology. She juxtaposes recycled and natural materials together with objects and hardware from urban construction, and often integrates two-dimensional media together with three dimensional objects, through photo montage, video, and installation