Broken
44"H x 49"W 2025
This piece contemplates family disruption. The shapes are severed Hebrew letters spelling the phrase l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation. L’dor v’dor is repeated frequently in the Jewish liturgy. When I hear it chanted, I wonder if others around me feel my unease. I think of all the ways in which generational continuity is broken, through war, famine, persecution, abuse, death, misunderstanding, rejection. I think about my own family. My father was a refugee from Iraq and his profound loss reverberated through our lives. He was shaped by a place I would never see. That gulf shaped me.
I cut the Hebrew letters from a semi-sheer fabric and layered them on top of a single piece of wine-colored fabric. I then improvisationally handstitched the whole piece in three different colors of thread, deliberately fraying the letters’ fabric and creating meandering lines that echo the paths of people’s lives.
Broken was shown in Quilts Unlimited 2025 at View Arts Center.
