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'Mending the Mantle' artist's way of finding
spiritual connection |
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By BLUE GREENBURG : The
Herald-Sun
blueg@bellsouth.net
Sep
21, 2006 : 8:54 am ET
DURHAM -- Art
and religion have enjoyed a synergy since early mankind marked a
spot between two stones as the place to worship the god. For Alice
Engel Levinson, the two are the same. She comes at her art from a
strong religious education, a family who all sewed, and a need to
move from her professional life to one that offered less stress and
time for reflection.
Levinson
takes bits and pieces of fabric, stitches and layers them in a
collage-like format, adds words and builds a work of art. "I'm a
writer," she said. "I write poetry and so words just crop up in my
work. I begin each piece with a concept and a text. It is not always
Jewish, but for this show I felt free to be culturally specific."
She talks about the spirituality
of her work and how it is universal. "I create work to help people
find a spiritual way, to find emotional restoration," she said. "I
put things on the wall and feel a connection to the universe."
"Mending the Mantle," the theme
for the show and the show's centerpiece, is a large swath of
hand-dyed fabric that celebrates the different ways cloth is used in
so many Jewish ceremonies, beginning with the shawl that men and
women wear when saying their prayers. "There is a prayer," Levinson
said, "that reads in part, 'and spread your mantle of peace to cover
us,' but peace in the world seems to be unraveling and so my mantle
is a metaphor."
Printed and
hand-dyed by the artist, the mantle is a swath of blue organza,
decorated with abstract symbols, which faintly resemble Hebrew
letters. It is hung to look like a delicate shelter. On close
examination, you see small open pockets on the underside. A note
beside the installation invites the viewer to write down a wish on
lovely handmade paper and put it into one of the tiny pockets.
Eventually Levinson will sew each wish into the cloth, seeing this
as a way of mending this object and, by extension, peace.
She works in two different
techniques. One is the layering of small bits of fabric onto a
surface and the other is a form of quilting where the designs,
although very abstract, are much tighter and denser. "With Timbrels
and Song" is a perfect example. This piece is vertical with a
central form, which according to Levinson, is, "Clearly a dancer or
several dancers. It is upward energy; energy, power and
celebration." The title comes from Exodus 15:20 that describes
Miriam, the sister of Moses, dancing with the women to celebrate the
destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea.
Levinson works in series and the "Emanations" grouping
is a beautiful combination of material and symbols to celebrate the
simple act of prayer by women. In each one, she works hands made of
fabric through the composition. "Jewish women light the candles on
the Sabbath and on holidays, and as they say the prayers, they cover
the light with their hands. They also cover their heads with a shawl
and so the hands and the fabric are all part of my tribute."
The "Emanations" paintings are all
layers upon layers of sheer organza. The colors in one are a medley
of blues, and in another, a layer of orange represents candlelight.
In the third, which is the largest, she has worked the hands into a
tree-like form of muted tones of blues and grays.
Many of Levinson's compositions
are accented with a knotted cord of thread in a variety of colors.
For her it is a tribute to the biblical exhortation that the
Israelites must put fringes on the corners of their garments and a
blue cord on the fringe. The fringe, which is called "Tsietsiet," is
a constant reminder that the wearer remembers God's commandments.
The "Mantle of Peace" has a splendid one made of gold and blue
threads.
Levinson said that when
she first began to add the fringes to her pieces, she practiced for
hours in order to make them in the exact traditional manner. Now she
sometimes gets carried away and so she knots for an artistic look
rather than according to a strict formula.
"I always wanted to study art," she said, "but my
family did not approve of it as a profession." She went to the
seminary and then on to Duke graduate school for a degree in
psychology and then many years as a clinical psychologist. In 2000,
after a heart attack, she realized it was time to quit the
profession and find something else. She took a course from Peg
Ginoux, who teaches fiber art at N.C. State, attended several
textile workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in
Gatlinburg, Tenn., and realized she had found the perfect way to
express her ideas.
The exhibition
with its merging of fabric, color, words and symbols is a spiritual
experience. The objects are beautiful and the evocation of a higher
being is there, wrapped in softness and beauty. There is no vengeful
God, no call for war, just a celebration of human spirituality.
"Mending the Mantle: Alice
Engel Levinson, Textiles"
Rosenzweig Gallery, Judea Reform Congregation, 1933 W.
Cornwallis Road, through Oct. 16. For information, call 489-7062.
Blue Greenberg's column appears
each week in The Arts. She can be reached at blueg@bellsouth.net or
by writing her in c/o The Herald-Sun, P.O. Box 2092, Durham, NC
27702.
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