UNART - Bais Chana Art Book

UNART

word & image



UNART

word & image



UNART

Teen Portfolio

2014-2017

Compiled and Edited by
Aarah Aizman, Art Facilitator

Bais Chana Women International
Jewish Uncamp

Compiled and edited by Aarah Aizman
Cover and book layout by Shira Yardley

Published and Copyrighted © 2018
by Bais Chana Women International
Brooklyn, New York
www.baischana.org
Tel: 718-604-0088

Bais Chana Women International is a Chabad nonprofit organization that serves an international
clientele of Jewish women from all walks of life, from teenagers to grandmothers, with Jewish education,
guidance and support.

Jewish UnCamp, Snorkel & Study, Jewish Women’s Study Retreats, Single Jewish Moms Connect, Retreats
for Women 55-plus, and Jewish Home & Office - are all projects of Bais Chana Women International.

Deep gratitude and acknowledgement to Tonia Lazaroff for outstanding facilitation
of poetry workshops in 2017.

Copyright © 2018 Aarah Aizman
www.aizmanart.com

Printed in Minneapolis, Minnesota

All rights reserved. No part of the content may be reproduced in any manner without written permission
except in the case of brief quotations in reviews, articles and broadcast.

The primary talent of an artist is his or her ability to step
away from the externalities of the thing and, disregarding its
outer form, gaze into its innerness and perceive its essence,
and to be able to convey this in their painting. This is how
an artist can serve their Creator.

— THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn  

This book is made possible through the generosity of

The Crain-Maling Foundation

and their loving dedication to Judaism, creativity and youth.

FOREWORD

“Art” is a perilous word. Because when we use the word ART, we expect something to be a certain way. Is it art?
Or, isn’t it art? Is it good enough to be called art? And if it isn’t? Then what? Well, all of this kind of talk doesn’t
really matter and doesn’t get much done. What does matter is getting busy creating, expressing. Processing,
appreciating.

What comes out - will find its place. It’s sincere. It’s authentic. And it’s beautiful.

Call it Unart.

Too often, the product of creativity is assumed to be the goal, the end result of some type of genius pursuit.
Real creativity knows not of endings and cannot put its finger on beginnings either. It’s the process itself that
leaves behind a better world in its footsteps.

Teens are in a unique and powerful position - being on the threshold from childhood to adulthood, they are
embarking on a journey and hold new information about our world and what it needs. We must be keen listeners
and see what they have to say in their art. When we do that, a form of expansion takes place and produces
a new existence. The world, everywhere, is forever different and further created.

I’d like to thank each of you in this book for being brave and candid hard workers, for mining your heart’s
wisdom, for your mix of urgency and nonchalance, and for forging words and images that reach and teach.
You are miners. You are builders. You are co-creators with your Maker. Live well in this earthly dwelling that is
now better than it was just a brush stroke ago.

Blessings,

Aarah (Shira Leah) Aizman
Art Facilitator

FOREWORD

One of the uses of art at Uncamp is helping people come out of their shell - to relax and allow themselves to
express themselves. We all have some type of rigid shell - a self consciousness - where we can’t do something
unless we’re good at it, where we judge ourselves severely. The need to be perfect or the desire to be perfect
is very stifling.

Art has a way of softening up that rigid resistance and it opens a person up to friendship, to learning, and
to their own potential. Seeing people sit down for the first time to draw something, or paint something, or mold
something, you see them relax and drop this rigid need for perfection. And they light up when they realize that
they’re actually producing something useful, something pretty, something more than they thought they were
capable of. And when they do it together as a group, there’s even more happening. It’s a beautiful thing to
watch. It uplifts people and it shows them a more refined and graceful life and reality.

Rabbi Manis Friedman
Dean and Co-founder

In 1991 Bais Chana Women International piloted a program for Jewish high school girls called the Jewish
UnCamp to give girls a Jewish foundation upon which to build their lives.

That foundation is made up of a deep sense of purpose and engagement with Jewish spirituality. A meaningful,
dynamic relationship with G-d. The structure and haven of family and community. The joy of Shabbat. A
genuinely safe, nonjudgmental space where girls can truly be themselves; and connect with counselors, best
friends and wise, caring teachers.

At UnCamp they learn to see more than the eye can see. And that is key. As they explore that in the art studio,
they start to understand – deeply, experientially – what being G-d’s partner in creation really means. It’s a joy
to watch.

Congratulations to everyone who played a part in UNART: Word & Image! Very special thanks to Dr. Michael
Maling for his generosity, insight, humor and warm encouragement of our work.

Hinda Leah Sharfstein
Director

G-dliness has to come from the earth,
not fall down from heaven.

Untitled, 2017
Anonymous
Watercolor

3

WORDS

Yitkah Norton

You want words?
I’ll give you words.
Words from my heart
Words from my soul
Words that I mean,
And some that I don’t.

Words can be an idea
Words can be a story
Words can be nonsense
Or even just plain gory

Words can be happy
Words can be sad
Words can be angry
And some are even bad
Words can mean naught

And words can mean all
But a person must use them
To know just where they fall

Lost, 2017
Adina (Maddie) Stirrett

Acrylic on Canvas

5

AND THE SURVEY SAYS WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF CREATIVITY?

■■ The unleashing of inner demons and angels.
■■ Something that gets done . . . that needs to be here, on earth.
■■ Using your unique self to produce ideas and creations.
■■ Soul expression.
■■ Creativity is letting your imagination and how you see the world come to life,

run free and materialize into something physical.

■■ Finding a way in a limited situation.
■■ Taking the sporadic, messy and unrealistic world in your head and organizing

it so that it can be expressed in a manner that reflects a suitable physical reality.

Untitled, 2015
Riva Massey

Acrylic on Canvas

7





Witnessing the art process of individuals is
a privilege. It’s a holy big bang of sorts. I
love seeing what comes out of it. It’s as if
something new has crossed over into creation,
something that was missing, and at the same
time, something that has always belonged.

Aarah Aizman

Untitled, 2014
Zivia Tirado
Mixed Media

11

EACH THEIR OWN WAY Untitled, 2016
Yael Leah Gedzelman
Nechama Ginsberg
Watercolor
You do it that way
I do it this way
One person writes it
The other one types it
I wear it high
You wear it low
Put your hair in a bun
Or tie it in a bow
I think like this
You think like that
Sing it as a song or write in a rap

Be your voice
Not your echo
Be the best version of yourself
And don’t let go!
If you’re lucky enough to be different
Never change
Stay in your range
Don’t exchange
Keep learning
Keep your flame burning
Stay real
It’s your deal

13

ALL ART IS THE ABILITY TO CAPTURE
THE ELUSIVE IN SOMETHING CONCRETE.

- Rabbi Manis Friedman

Flash of White Developed into Bina, 2016
Shira Finman

Acrylic on Canvas

15

‫( חכמה‬wisdom) = ‫( כח‬ability for) + ‫( מה‬whatever)

Swirling Ideas, 2016
Yael Gedzelman

Acrylic on Canvas

17





AND THE SURVEY SAYS THINK ABOUT A PARTICULAR PIECE OF ART
YOU MADE AT UNCAMP THAT SURPRISED YOU.
WHAT HAPPENED?

■■ I cried.
■■ I felt proud, like I was visiting a part of myself that I loved and hadn’t been aware of.
■■ I realized there were no expectations of it. Just me making art for my sole enjoyment.
■■ While I was forming a mug out of clay I was thinking how I’d just created something

no one else has before.

■■ Silk dyeing! It was a new medium for me. It had many steps and required patience.

I pushed myself to commit to relaxing and taking my time. I am proud of the results!

■■ I remember I made a vase and I had a distinct idea of what I wanted it to look like,

but as the process went on I saw that it wasn’t going to work out how I imagined.
I ended up just improvising and began to mold it without any particular direction
in mind and the result was a beautiful vase with a twist, and I looked at it and did
not at all expect it to turn out like that. I guess in some way it was a reflection of how
I was feeling at the time because I kind of just let my hands do what they wanted.

Colorful Peace, 2017
Nina Pfrenger
Ceramic

21

I, THE DRAGON And as I fall I can’t breathe,
Can’t breathe,
Beracha Moyal And I’m still standing here.
Yet, I haven’t even jumped.
I have this thing for fairy tales. I can’t breathe.
Fantastical stories of dragons, I’m spiraling down,
knights, castles, Spiraling down.
All that. A dragon’s mighty armor protects him
In my head So others can’t see.
I’m a dragon His laughably frightened core.
Flying to great heights. Yet I have tears so real
Protecting no matter what the cost. No fire could ever make them dissipate
Breathing a mouth of fire And my spirit is so real,
To those who dare oppose. But I can’t seem to defend.
But how pitiful I am in actuality.
What kind of dragon has a I’m afraid of hurting.
Crushing fear to fly? Afraid of loneliness.
My fears control and force me to The nighttime when the darkness
The point of no return. Wraps its cloak around me.
My wings are clipped for all eternity. Afraid of being taken.
Just when I feel like I can, Forgotten, and of sinking.
I can’t. I’m afraid to live.
“But I’m afraid of nothing,”
Because looking down, Says the dragon.
Looking down,
Is everything at once. His scales reflect beauty,
It presses me up in a corner - But it is not his.
It wraps its claws around my neck. That fiery mouth

From which flames burst forth - But I just keep falling,
Has been dry for a century. Falling,
For he lives in a forest Still, maybe it’s safer
Where if he even lets a single flame That way in my core.
Lick the ground - Guarding the only treasures I own.
It would crumple all to ashes. I may never let them out.
But you let me know
And he lives atop a volcano where When it’s ok. ok.
If he doesn’t control his anger Let me know when the coast is clear.
To the slightest tee, When I can stop trembling.
It could cause everything to bubble over. When I can finally get out of my head.
The lava to burn, And live without fear.
Destroy all the good he has,
The only home he’ll ever have. Maybe one day,
Because when people meet the dragon, My wings will grow back to
They expect him to be What they wanted to be.
How he seems. Maybe one day,
The glow of embers in a fireplace will be
So they begin to soar, Because of me.
And instead of joining them he
Shrivels up and cries. And maybe after,
They scoff and leave - I’ll celebrate.
Who needs a dragon if I won’t be ashamed that
They’re everything except one? I am showing.
And I’ll still be me.
I just won’t be a dragon,
I’d be
Me.

23

The art process is the real teacher - not me.
But, you have to show up and be brave
enough to be real.

Aarah Aizman

Comical Complexities, 2017
Beracha Moyal

Paper Collage Mixed Media

25

WHEN YOU LET GO OF
EVERYTHING, THEN YOU GET
SOMETHING NEW.

- Rabbi Manis Friedman

Unbound, 2015
Eliana Schwartzendruber
Mixed Media on Canvas

27

Partners in Creation:
Where there is freedom of choice there is partnership.
I want to make the world the way the Creator wants it.

Snowy Summer, 2017
Nina Pfrenger

Acrylic on Canvas

29

THE FACES WE WEAR and then there are people who have
such beautiful masks
Shaina Laber that you wish you could ignore
the void
fake smiles. false faces. in their eyes
so many masks, so much hiding, and the cold in their souls.
always surrounding me, always inside of
me. i look in the mirror, and i see layer upon
is anything real? is anyone layer of masks.
real? some are so tightly interwoven with the
real me,
sometimes I look at people and I don’t some have been worn for so long,
see them, that it’s hard for me to tell
but the mask they present to the world. what’s real and what’s the mask.

some people have such carefully crafted do i laugh because it’s funny
masks or because everyone else does?
that it’s hard to believe there’s anything do i smile because I’m happy
underneath. or as a result of the habit i created
maybe there isn’t. when i noticed i didn’t smile enough?

some people have masks made of such what if i’m just an empty shell,
fragile carefully painted to give the illusion
materials as glass and paper of life?
that they shatter
and rip
at the slightest touch.

sometimes this feels like the truth. always lurking in the back of my mind,
then there are times creeps to the front,
when my mask is a hastily made mask of takes control
paper.
i try to hold it together, but then i see this mask is cold, doesn’t care
a rip. about anything or anyone.
it’s a small rip, but i know that soon,
that rip will grow, and if everything spills i wish i could destroy this mask,
out, shatter it into a million pieces and set
i don’t think i’ll be able to get it back them on fire,
in. but stone doesn’t burn
and I always find myself
so I build myself a mask of stone. putting the pieces together again.

nothing gets out of this mask,
but nothing gets in either.

this mask of stone is the worst of all.
the soft, sensitive parts of me,
afraid of getting broken,
hide in a corner of my mind,
and the unfeeling, cruel creature

31

IF YOU LEARN A LITTLE CHASSIDUS,
YOU’LL KNOW WE ARE CAPABLE OF INFINITY.
THE NESHAMA IS ENDLESS AND ITS TALENTS
ARE ENDLESS.

- Rabbi Manis Friedman

Morning Lake, 2015
Chana Kudan

Acrylic on Canvas

33

If I’m doing my job well - I am both teacher and
student - and we’re both breaking rulers and
putting crowns on stickmen.

Aarah Aizman

Untitled, 2015
Tamar Aharon
Acrylic on Canvas

35

SARCASM Planting flowers never hurt anybody.
And somehow volcanic ash -
Zeissa Spadone No matter how mysterious and sparkly,
Has a way of covering everybody.
Unfortunately life has taught me
To detect sarcasm; Call me judgmental.
The lowering of tone - Tell me I don’t understand.
The rolling of the eyes - Here in this space
The slow sardonic grinning Where I choose to paint the world
Their smile doesn’t In sunshine happy and keep my lips
Quite reach their eyes. In the permanent curve of an orange slice.
I don’t need you coming
I mean, who are you kidding? And harshing vibes.
Sarcasm isn’t how you communicate - That’s what other people are here for,
It’s how you learn to not relate. Not you.
So take your cynicism and GO AWAY.
It is the weak person’s defense
I prefer to paint my day in sunshine happy. When they have no weapons left.
In golden syrup drippy droppy. I prefer to fight my battles with words,
Call me naïve. Not swords.
Call me silly.
Tell me that my optimism borders on Please tell me
Fantasy. You would rather spread light,
Rather than grey?
Perhaps I’ve no right to judge. From light come all colors,
How you deal with your pain.
How you perceive the world.
Choose to behave.
Last time I checked -

And I would prefer to contrast blue
With orange.
Purple
With yellow.
Not grey with white.

So I’ll keep going.
Doing what I do.
I’m strong enough to stand tall -
Despite the world
I only ask,
That perhaps consider that humans
Weren’t created to be strong
All the time.
But vulnerable
Too.

37

Can’t say it? Then paint it. Can’t paint it?
Then dance it. Life moves. Be a beauty maker.
You can.

Aarah Aizman

Untitled, 2014
Chani Pil

Stain Glass and Mixed Media

39





AND THE SURVEY SAYS HOW WAS DOING ART IN A GROUP DIFFICULT?

■■ Requires work to go into your own world. Requires trust of another. Vulnerability

and letting go of self expectations.

■■ I like to be quiet when I work, if I start talking, I’m not in my work as much.
■■ Takes huge amount of vulnerability and trust.
■■ People sometimes complained and weren’t so positive always about their art.
■■ All the noise was kind of distracting, as were the time constraints.
■■ Social pressure to get a nice piece of art is always in the back of my mind.

In Process, 2014 Iowa