AGJA Blog
Shoshannah Brombacher
Art makes the world within the artist visible.
Classical music, poetry, Jewish and Chassidic stories, traveling, the love for people and memories of eras gone but not forgotten, cities where I lived and worked, like Amsterdam, Berlin, Jerusalem, New York, or visited like Prague and Sicily, are the main ingredients of my art.
My art is like the water of the canals of my native Amsterdam, Rembrandts city, the deeper you look into it, the more you see. A reflection of a reflection of a reflection…look, what you see is not what you see.
My art contains texts and letters, lets writing come alive, and reflects my deep connection with the Dutch 17th century Masters, German expressionism, Russian art and medieval miniatures.
My art is also a tribute to music and the world of the great Chassidic masters of Eastern Europe. The Kotzker Rebbe listened to a Chassidic storyteller in the street and stated:
He told what he wanted and I heard what I needed.
That is Art.
The Verse of a Name. The passuk of Avraham Leib.
There is an old Jewish custom to teach a little child the “verse of their name” at an early age. This is a passuk, a verse from Tenakh, that begins and ends with the same letter as his or her name does. The underlying thought is the following. After a person dies, the soul is accompanied by angels to the heavenly court.
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A Table Leg for Shabbat
This is a story from the past. When I was in high school, I became a baalat
teshuvah, searching for my roots and connecting with my Jewish faith, inspired by
the Chassidic stories of Martin Buber which I found in my father’s study.
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Be with the students of Aharon — A Page of Talmud on canvas
Recently, I attended an art event at the Hillel Germany Organization in Berlin. I love their lectures. All kinds of people attend them, not only university students, Hillel a meeting point for Jews.
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