Los Angeles Jewish Journal: Surrounded by the Sacred

by Rob Kutner

November 19, 1999

As the subtitle of Indian Jewish Artist Nishima Kaplan's one-woman show "Women at the Wall: Sacred Images of Israel & Judaism" suggests, her work attempts to visually define the sacred. One reading of her definition might be "enveloped isolation." Her subjects are often isolated in place or time.

The Orthodox church spire in "Sacred Vision," the minaret in "Call to Prayer," and the gargantuan Negev crater depicted in "Makhtesh Ramon" all stand alone in the world. Yet each is surrounded by brilliant, flaring, even unearthly surges of color from the natural world, bringing a blanket of comfort to its solitude. The choice of these subjects, along with Kaplan's scene of baptism in "Jordan River Mikveh" also portrays the sacred as enveloping equally the many faiths of Israel.

Similarly, the pensive, weary woman reciting "A Prayer for Healing," despite her separation from the world nearby, appears fully encompassed into her ritual. In the woodcut "Yom Kippur," a lone shofar-blower is literally surrounded by deep, wavy lines of texture, lines evoking a holy sound that fills his world at that moment.

As bright and diverse as her colors are, Kaplan's lines are tender and generous, showing an intimacy with her subjects that even extends to including herself in some, such as "Jordan River Mikveh" and "Makhtesh Ramon."

Her title piece, "Dancing at the Wall," brings isolation and envelopment into focus. Twelve women, of various skin shades, sizes, and shapes, form a circle, arms over shoulders, by the Western Wall, but distanced from it. They have created a sacred space just outside the conventional one, isolating themselves from its politics and strife. As the relaxation of their arms and faces suggests, however, they are comfortable with this, surrounding each other as one.