I have been involved with the Shalva National Center for years. So when Malki Samuels called for me to do their dedication art I was thrilled.
The biggest is located inside the main dining hall on the third floor. The new dedication wall for B’nei Mitzvah is a multi color artwork that illuminates the Shalva National Center with color and beauty. Made as a three dimensional open Torah scroll, the rainbow of emerging colors, rounded edges and wavy design was chosen to represent the universal value of acceptance of all and to celebrate the unique qualities that each person has to contribute to the world. Individually crafted using the glass fusing process that bonds colored metal enamel and partially melted glass in a glass kiln at high temperatures, each 1/4 inch thick plaque reveals its own unique shade of color. The process of glass fusing is in itself a metaphor of transformation that relates both to the transition of coming of age and to the challenging journey of Shalva’s children as they learn to live and thrive beyond their disabilities. Through intense heating, the metal imperfections are able to change their frequency to become the brilliant color reflected in each piece of glass.
This is a technique I enjoy intensely, I am never certain of the end result until I open the kiln.
