mother and child

Like most of you artists, I am often asked to donate work to this or this auction or fundraiser (a subject definitely worth discussing at some point on this blog.) I am selective about it these days. One that I am most proud of recently is a piece that I have donated to Jewish Family Services. If a donor makes a gift at a certain level, he/she gets one of these. It is photograph I made with my Diana (plastic camera) the year before my mom died. Jewish Family Services produced a beautifully designed direct mail piece about their annual fundraising event featuring the photograph they are offering to contributors. On it was a reproduction of my image, "Mother and Child", and my description of it:

"It’s a simple statue bought on a trip to Israel many years ago. It has been on the hearth in my family’s den since I was young; I’ve always considered it part of the landscape.

When my mother became ill, I realized that this special place, my childhood home, was not always going to be there for me. I began documenting its details. The smallest of things were suddenly full of new meanings. Even the unassuming metal sculpture took on added significance.

For my parents, it symbolized the love of parent and child, a compelling force in our close-knit family. As a girl growing up, it was comforting to glance over at it and be reminded how lucky I was to have the embrace and support of my family. And now, as a wife, the mother of two and the child of an aging father, these lessons have come full circle.

This is a simple photograph made with a toy camera. What it connotes, however, is rich, complicated and ever so powerful."