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Artist Statement for "My Heart Awakens" Ketubah Artist: Nishima Kaplan Original media: Torn paper on birch
"…I sleep, but my heart awakens; Hear! My beloved knocks: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove… for my head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of the night." (chap. 5:2) Think back to a time before you knew each other, when your hearts were still asleep. Do you remember the first time your eyes met? The first moment when your heart skipped a beat and you wondered, "what was that all about?" The first instance you knew, "this is for keeps." In "My Heart Awakens," eighth in Nishima Kaplan’s "Song of Songs" series, the rising sun suffuses the world with golden light. Fertile green plains and hills of spice evoke a timeless realm of possibilities. A place of wakefulness and life, love and light. This torn paper collage is constructed from hand-made Japanese paper that is torn, applied and layered onto board over the course of several days. The process is intensely meditative for the artist. She begins with only an idea in mind. No sketches of the artwork are done prior to beginning and no instruments other than the artist's hand are used to tear the paper. Sudden inspirations, "accidents" and the natural beauty of the paper are allowed to "create" the artwork, using the artist as the vessel of expression. Spontaneous, creative, mystical: the words used to describe the process of creating this torn paper ketubah also describe the people who love it. |
