Jacob & Sons

Wood, Acrylic.  16"x17"
Cleveland Jewish Arts and Culture Lab
Mandel JCC
Cleveland, OH USA 
Spring 2014

Jacob & Sons is one of three pieces in the exhibition Inside/Outside.  Screen prints will be available soon.  Sign up for the mail list (on the left) or like RachelGordonArt on Facebook to get updates!

Sheep and shepherds are a central theme in Judaism.  The psalms are full of them; the great leaders of the Bible (King David, Moses, etc) were shepherds; the Bible calls for 2 daily sacrifices of sheep, today replaced by daily prayer and the idea that it is through patience and daily work on ourselves and our connection to God that we are gifted with amazing moments.

Some of the inspiration for this piece comes from the story of our patriarch Jacob who falls in love with Rachel and works 7 years for her hand in marriage as a shepherd for her father Lavan - only to find out the next morning that he had been tricked and married her sister Leah instead.  His escape from Lavan's household was made possible by building his flock of sheep.  Lavan wanted only sheep with no markings and offered those with stripes and spots to Jacob as wages. God and angels come to Jacob in his dreams - God tells him that He will take care of him and he will be father to many and an angel instructs him on breeding sheep with markings. The flock grows and he, his wives, and his children are able to leave.  Each of the 12 tribes that came from Jacob were unique while also part of the whole. In Lavan's eyes the markings rendered them flawed while in Jacob's eyes they were the key to an amazing future for the Jewish people.

I am fascinated by the interplay of outer appearance and inner self - our exterior as a reflection of our interior and vice versa - how much we judge and make assumptions based on appearance and the dream of reaching unity in the diversity.  I'm also all about fun and color and laughing - and the sheep and I have had a great time together.  Are the sheep putting on outfits or are the markings radiating from their core?