a woman's wisdom is in her spinning

R. Eliezer again. A woman's wisdom is in her spinning... the full context of this was R. Eliezer refused to answer a torah question as it was asked by a woman. Amongst the lace work of this doily I have incorporated spiderwebs, details of various different spinning techniques, and a s&m tied-up woman. (click on picture to see a bigger version)



I used my handwriting as a template for the lettering, and decided to cut out the paper and leave the letters (as opposed to cutting out the letters in the previous papercuts)

witchcraft

this is the latest paper cut in the ladies guild collection. I have decided to do the lettering as handwriting and made a complete rather than partial doily. This one has witchcraft symbols and pin-up witches integrated into the lace pattern.



cutting out the lettering, which resulted in this fragment of text

lechery

this is the latest papercut. direct from the cutting board. it is from the mishna in sotah - teaching a woman torah is like teaching her tiflut. which depending on your version, translates as lechery, folly, whoreishness, foolishness, lasciviousness. I like the disapproving finger-waving tone of 'lechery'. the context being that the test for suspected adulteress women would not work if she is learned. So if you teach her anything, it will only encourage to have lots of illicit sex as she knows that she will be able to get away with it... (to be fair to the mishna, there is another view that encourages teaching woman, but that is not the one that has been taken up and influential to the development of education for females...)

drawings

these are some drawings from while ago from when I drew Alabama 3 a lot.

ladies guild collection

this is a beginning of a series of papercuts. The Ladies Guild is basically the kiddush rota at the orthodox synagogue that I grew up in. Women's communal involvement was solely connected to food preparation, and presentation - putting the cake out only on pretty doillies was part of that. I have used the doillie as the setting for various rabbinic mysoginist quotations. these quotes have been chosen by a range of orthodox women educators, each one having their pet piece of text that makes them go 'grrrr....'

more sefer torah corsets

this corset from the 'maternal torah' series is pregnant. the talmud describes the fetus in the womb as being given instruction from an angel. the mother's body becomes a place of revelation, a personal har sinai. I have called this piece - 'the yeshiva inbetween - yeshiva bifnim', inbetween heaven and earth, the upper and lower yeshivot.

sefer torah corsets

these are a series called 'torah imecha - maternal torah.'
They combine elements of a traditional sefer torah mantle - the oval top piece with 2 holes cut out, the proportions of height + width + depth; with a women's corset. Emphasizing the feminine aspect of torah. The corset seems to be a perfect metaphor for torah and halacha (jewish law), in that it constrains and restricts but also gives shape and support.
they are made from synammay - a millenary fabric and are suspended from the top, and are extremely lightweight.