Bison Model currently on display at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem MA

 My bison model is currently in an exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. It's in the case with this beautiful old stuffed bison. They had professional art handlers from NYC pick it up, and it was really funny when they arrived at my studio with a 16' box truck... that's what I rent when I have to move the life-sized bison!  But I guess it's the only company car they got.

 

It's going in the case with the star of the show, this guy:

You can read an article about the bison on the Peabody Essex Museum's website here.

The Gwoździec Synagogue Replication Project - my summer in Poland

My three summers (and a grand total of six months) of working on this project in Poland (plus four years in the US working on the half-scale model and helping teach some workshops) and it's finally complete!  This is the core exhibition of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews,  a new museum in what was once the Warsaw Ghetto in Warsaw, Poland.  This past summer we worked only on painting the bimah (constructed only using hand tools at Massachusetts College of Art several years ago), which will sit slightly off-center under the ceiling.  This was my first time seeing the ceiling installed (which I didn't help with) and it was absolutely breathtaking!  We always painted flat and not overhead on an actual ceiling, so it was a completely different experience to see it installed and slightly curved. A couple people cried and I couldn't blame them.  After investing so much time and energy into this, it was amazing to be standing under it and looking up.  And to think this is a replica - so something like this actually existed at some time and services were held in it.  I almost had a religious experience being under this thing and I'm not even religious!

 

This last photo was taken at the opening and isn't mine. Credit goes to Magdalena Starowieyska/Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich.  It shows the top/ second floor of the exhibit.  The timber framed structure of the roof is showing through a cut out.  It is partially shingled.

 

 The architecture of the museum is absolutely insane!:

 

 The interior is just as beautiful:

More info here: www.handshousestudio.org 

or at the projects facebook page: www.facebook.com/gwozdziec 

A great short video of a profile of the project by CNN with lots of awesome footage: http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2013/11/21/spc-on-the-road-poland-jewish-museum-warsaw.cnn.html

Animal Show at Pterodactyl

 

My bison model was in the "Animal Show" at Pterodactyl in Philadelphia during July/August.  Unfortunately the opening was the night I was leaving for Poland so I wasn't able attend.  Originally, my full-sized bison was supposed to be in this show, but it was 1' too large in every direction to fit in their elevator.  It was convenient that their flier (which was made before I applied) had a picture of a bison on it. Pterodactyl is a beautiful gallery and is in the same building as Fireball Printing, which seems really awesome and who's name I only remember because they had a little bowl of fireball candies next to their business cards (which I approve of).

Another Faux Fur Bear Hide!

I cranked out another faux fur bear hide, with another soon to follow.  This one is for sale on etsy.

This is what the head looks like flattened:  

flea market embroidery

I got this awesome embroidery at a flea market a few weeks ago and I still think it's the coolest thing ever.  Just look at the way that mesh/lack of mesh is making light bust through those thread trees!  And it's got a real nice frame!  It's a pretty decent size - a little over two feet in each direction.  Definitely worth $5.

Gallery at Memphis

I currently have four pieces in a show at the Memphis Street Academy Charter School.  The building itself is probably just as impressive as the show (look at that marble!). The show's opening had a great turn out and I was very impressed with all of the art.

The installation of the roof structure and painted ceiling synagogue replica in the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw

I'm a little late (...probably more like a month late..), but the painted panels I worked on in Poland for the past two summers just got installed in their final resting place, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland!  It's completely amazing to see them displayed how they ought to be - curved - when I have only worked on them flat.

There's been a lot of press about it recently (as it should be!):

• http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/12/5255810/jewish-museum-in-poland-unveils.html
• http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/jewish-museum-poland-unveils-synagogue-roof-18709050
• http://news.yahoo.com/jewish-museum-poland-unveils-synagogue-roof-151838980.html
• http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jewish-museum-poland-unveils-synagogue-roof

Here are some pictures taken by my good friend Krista, who helped install it this past February in the museum:

More photos of the installation, and all the work done in the past two summers, can be found on the project's facebook page and at HandshouseStudio.org.