I have reduced the intricacies of the body to the simplistic representation of a bucket in order to communicate the soul and its expression. The bucket communicates emotion - overflows, cracks and expands to become new. I.e. the physicality itself is tied into the emotion. A bucket’s physical matter is that of the earth, containing earth elements (flowers), and clearly represents the elements of earth (water and dust).

My early work dealt with a compartmentalization of the physical and the emotional state of a human being. The yoke of the collarbone, depending on how it hung, represented humility, etc. I also painted anatomical hearts with ventricles. A heart later appeared in my studies.

Tanya (a book of Jewish mysticism) explains that the 2 inclinations of a human being are housed in the 2 chambers of the heart. The emotional and intellectual information is then pumped through the body to the different organs and the mind; or from the mind to the different organs; depending on which side of the heart the inclination stems from.

I have separated the vascular vessels to become individually standing vessels or “buckets.” The bucket is a representation of one side of the heart. Sometimes, in my paintings, the two sides of the self communicate with one another. Other times, the buckets indicate two separate souls (i.e. a soul in a container of the body) looking at one another.

The cross hatchings in the paintings indicate a spiritual essence. In kabbalah the multi-levels of the universe and their division into worlds is called hishtalshelut. The process of contraction and concealment that the energy goes through in order to be able to reach this lowest world is called tsimtsum.

All objects in the work have spiritual significance. A stone has a spiritual life force invested in it so that it may exist, but it must be carried to move its physical position. I use the stone to represent ourselves in our most humble state: alive but willing to be moved to the right place at the right time. This placement is called Hashgacha Pratis or divine province. By living inside of time we are able to accomplish our true avodah (work) in the world.