KADDISH: THE WHITE CHAPTER
Installation, 2022
4 handwoven objects (183 x 233 x 6 c”m), 4 drawings

Kaddish: The White Chapter is the first part of the trilogy Kaddish in Three Chapters, a body of work that examines the emergence of language from trauma.

At the center of the installation are four handwoven objects made of rubber straps. The woven surfaces evoke associations with elastic bandages applied to wounded areas. The manual and repetitive act of weaving recalls the rhythm of prayer, echoing the cadence of those reciting the Kaddish. The work is based on my poem Kaddish-Orphan-Language, itself rooted in the Jewish Kaddish prayer recited for the dead. The poem describes the development of language after trauma in four stages: gibberish, broken speech, imitation, and free language. Each of the four woven objects is placed in the space in correspondence with one of these stages.

Kaddish: White Chapter  presents the initial moment, absent of language, absent of image, in which all potential for becoming still exists.