2019
Found objects (blacksmith forge oven, iron pipes), metal plate, black 1930-1940`s lace, coal.
h: 152 cm, w: 85 cm, d: 138 cm
Photography: Meidad Suchowolski
The work was set in motion by a blurred photograph of a group of naked women on their way to the crematorium in a Nazi concentration camp, surrounded by guards, as a gesture intended to cover them – if only belatedly – and bring an end to their humiliation
The black lace strips were found online, all of them vintage pieces from 1930s–40s Europe. They might once have adorned the garments of these women, or else – have been used to mourn them. Here they trace a perimeter around a salvaged blacksmith’s forge: a paradoxical shelter, a frail chamber for hiding, for wishing not to be seen. One end of each strip gathers at the upper rim of the chimney; the other is buried in coal.
Nothing can give expression to the horrors of the Holocaust. This work is a response to the helplessness one feels before absolute evil, and to the compassionate, impossible question: what can we still do for them, now?
