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Maya Escobar

Conceptual Identity Artist

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Blurring Boundaries Between Jewish Denominations

Excerpt from the Tzit Tzit: Fiber Art and Jewish Identity Exhibition Catalog, by curator Ben Schacter.

Maya Escobar is a Latina Jew who relishes her ability to blur the boundaries not only between cultures but Jewish denominations. Her Shomer Negiah Panites is an extreme example. The expression shomer negiah refers to the law that limits sexual relations. While a women is menstruating and for several days after, she is not allowed to touch her husband. At the end of this time, she takes a ritual bath called a mikvah.  This monthly ritual balances abstinence, cleanliness and intimacy.  It is said by those who follow this tradition that time together is made even more precious.Shomer Negiah PantiesShomer Negiah Panties, 2005Escobar’s work seems to turn this custom on its ear.  First, sexuality in the Orthodox community is not publicly displayed.  Underwear or anything remotely like it would not be shown in public.  Second, part of the function of shomer negiah is one of modesty, not one to tease.  But in a twist of modernity, the “tease” can be a way of female control.  To exclaim, “Hands Off!” at precisely the moment of greatest vulnerability is exactly what Escobar’s underwear does.Heckshered Tallis presents an air of transgression without doing so.  A hecksher is a stamp placed on food to certify that its ingredients and method of processing follows the dietary rules observed by many Jews, called Kashrut.  The symbols themselves have nothing to do with prayer and do not belong on a tallis, or prayer shawl, but the obsessive imprimatur suggests an over compensation on the part of the wearer. Women are not required to wear such garments but some congregants of more liberal egalitarian congregations do.  Is Escobar suggesting women’s insecurity by obsessively certifying this tallis as “Kosher?”Maya Escobar Heckshered TallisKosher Davening, 2006The pattern of heckshers also creates a fashion akin to a Louis Vuitton print where the fabric is paradigmatic of luxury.  Hechshered Tallis brings high fashion and religion together in a satisfyingly truthful and critical way.  Even more interesting is the way Escobar’s work comments on different traditions and laws through fashion.  Escobar’s oeuvre highlights denominational fragmentation by drawing attention to certain details of Jewish life.  The traditional woman who follows shomer negiah would most likely not wear a tallis.  Identity is rarely mixed in this way.  For an artist to be able to make cross-denominational commentary such as found in Shomer Negiah Panties and Heckshered Tallis takes keen observation. Escobar does not exempt her own experience from such examination.As she shared with me, her family chided her to make napkins for her future, now husband.  This traditional role, that is to make the home, chaffed her mildly.  She was resistant to such commonplace assumptions about gender so to exaggerate the request, she embroidered “napkin for my husband” across hand woven fabric.  Her actions as a wife would thus never be taken for granted.Napkin For My HusbandNapkin For My Husband, 2007Napkin has been given an additional function, as a challah cover.  One covers the challah, or bread made specifically to honor the Sabbath, before the blessing is said and the bread is cut.  To embellish a cover heightens the ritual by making the objects beautiful.  Napkin tethers together Jewish practice and the work of a relationship.  Through her demonstrated knowledge of Jewish custom in her work, one wonders if she also knows Eishet Hayil, a song sung in  praise of one’s wife.  “A good wife, who can find?  She is precious far beyond rubies.” Perhaps Escobar is not so passive aggressively demanding to be serenaded.

tags: Ben Schacter, Eishet Hayil, fiber art, halacha, heckshers, hiddur mitzvah, jewish fiber artist, jewish identity, Kashrut, mikvah, tallis, textiles, weaving, women
categories: Art, feminist, Jewish Life in America, Judaism, Maya Escobar
Saturday 07.24.10
Posted by maya escobar
 

Tzit Tzit: Fiber Art and Jewish Identity

I met Ben Schachter at the 2009 Conney Conference on Jewish Art: Performing Histories, Inscribing Jewishness, where coincidentally, we both presented Eruv themed works.In addition to making humorous Jewish themed conceptual art, Ben is a curator and is the man behind Tzit Tzit: Fiber Art and Jewish Identity. I have a few pieces from Hiddur Mitzvah included in the show.Tzit Tzit Fiber Art and Jewish IdentityA special exhibit assembled by guest curator Ben Schachter, “Tzit Tzit: Fiber Art and Jewish Identity,” will open with a reception at The Saint Vincent Gallery in the Robert S. Carey Student Center at Saint Vincent College from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, January 28. Admission is free and open to the public.The exhibit will continue from Friday, January 29 through Sunday, February 21 during regular Gallery hours: 12 noon to 3 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 12 noon to 3 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Gallery is closed on Mondays.Participating artists include Maya Escobar, Melanie Dankowicz, Carol Es, Leslie Golomb, Louise Silk and Shirah Apple.Ms. Silk will present a lecture, “Quilting and Spirituality,” at 6 p.m. Monday, February 9 in room 100 of Prep Hall.Mr. Schachter, associate professor of fine arts, will give a Gallery tour of the exhibition at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 9.The exhibit was developed by Mr. Schachter. “I have been studying various aspects of Jewish art for the past three years and this exhibit is an outgrowth of that interest,” Mr. Schachter said. “The artists hail from Los Angeles, New York City, Kansas City, Illinois and Pittsburgh.”“Fiber art refers to any use of a cloth such as stitching or weaving,” he explained. “The title, Tzit Tzit, refers to the fringe on a prayer shawl, or tallis, worn by many Jews during prayer. While using thread, cloth, pattern making, stitching and other craft materials, each artists’ process creates a language derived from craft techniques that reinterprets the Old Testament, the oral law as written in the Talmud and personal histories. In so doing, both craft theory and Jewish Art are reinvigorated. I learned of these artists through Jewish art conferences I have attended, through exhibitions and through national awards. I think our students and our friends in the region will really enjoy seeing their work.”Ben Schachter is an artist whose work integrates conceptual art and Jewish law. He sees a connection between the rules artists have created to guide and limit their work and Jewish traditions. His work has been shown nationally and will be on exhibition at the Westmoreland Museum of Art in Greensburg concurrent with this exhibition. He holds an M.F.A. and M.S. degree from Pratt Institute and lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and two children.Carol Es paints images that powerfully scream of a life of hard labor. As a child she worked endless hours in a sweatshop with her family. Ms. Es' works are featured in numerous private and public collections, including the Getty Museum, Brooklyn Museum, UCLA Special Collections, the Jaffe Collection and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. She is also a two-time recipient of the ARC Grant from the Durfee Foundation and was recently awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Fellowship.Maya Escobar’s work directly challenges gender roles and illustrates how Jewish tradition empowers women. Ms. Escobar received her master of fine arts degree from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis, and her bachelor of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited work in Spain, Guatemala, United States, Germany and Venezuela.Melanie Dankowicz creates intricate papercut sculptures, marriage contracts, and wall art. An expansion of the medium, Dankowicz's three-dimensional forms are ephemeral lace-like paper structures, of elegant tracery that has inspired her recent metalwork. She draws inspiration from the countryside of Illinois, where she resides with Harry and their three children.Leslie Golomb exhibits her work nationally and internationally and is the recipient of numerous awards, including recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artists Fellowship Award and a State of the Art Award from the State Museum of Pennsylvania. Her work was recently included in the Three Rivers Arts Festival and Best of Pittsburgh Invitational. Ms. Golomb holds a bachelor in fine arts from Carnegie-Mellon University and a master of fine arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She served as founder and director of the American Jewish Museum of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh for nine years. She has returned to the studio producing prints and artists books.Louise Silk began her quest to acquire skills as a quilter after being inspired by an article in Ms. Magazine in 1971 about quilt making as a woman's art form. Over the past 30 years, her work has been included in Quilt National Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Quilts as well as many private corporate collections such as USAirways, Paine Webber and PNC Bank. She is a certified Integrated Kabbalistic Healer. She is currently living and working from her loft in the South Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Ms. Golumb and Ms. Silk collaborate and join their printmaking and fiber art into multilayered quilts, runners and tallisim. The images and techniques bring together American folk traditions and Jewish history in surprising ways. Ultimately the perspective of these five artists reinvigorates what Jewish Art is and can become.Shirah Apple received a master of fine arts degree from the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006. She is a graduate of MICA’s post-baccalaureate certificate program and of Miami University, where she received a bachelor of science degree in business administration.Further information about the exhibition is available by contacting the Gallery at 724 805-2107, www.stvincent.edu/gallery.

tags: Ben Schachter, Carol Es, conney conference, contemporary, eruv, eruvim, fiber, hiddur mitzvah, Jewish, jewish identity, Leslie Golomb, Louise Silk, Melanie Dankowicz, quilting, SAIC, School of the Art Insittute of Chicago, Shirah Apple, textiles, tzit tzit, tzitzits
categories: Art, contmporary art, culture, exhibition, humor, identity, Jewish Life in America, Judaism, Maya Escobar, news
Thursday 12.24.09
Posted by maya escobar
 

SHOMER NEGIAH PANTIES ON ESTY

Shomer Negiah Panties have finally arrived!!  Get a them on ShomerNegiahPanties.com and EtsyShomer Negiah is a concept in Jewish law halacha that prohibits any degree of physical contact with, or touching of, a member of the opposite sex, except for one’s spouse and immediate family. Shomer means “guards”, but due to its common use in phrases relating to religious practice, it has come to mean: “adhere to” as well. Negiah is the Hebrew word for “touch”, and thus Shomer Negiah is a term used to describe one who “guards the touch” or simply “adheres to restrictions of touch”. Although the feminine form of the term is technically Shomeret Negiah, it is almost always used in the masculine, even when in reference to women. Shomer Negiah Panties allow a woman to abide by the halacha, but still be individual and sexy at the same time.

tags: channuka, etsy, feminism, fiber, girls, halacha, hiddur mitzvah, Jewish, Maya Escobar, Panties, shomer negiah panties, textile, tznius, women
categories: Art, feminist, humor, identity, Judaism, Shomer Negiah
Sunday 10.25.09
Posted by maya escobar
 

Shomer Negiah Panties

SHOMER NEGIAH PANTIES NOW AVAILABLE ON ShomerNegiahPanties.comShomer Negiah is a concept in Jewish law halacha that prohibits any degree of physical contact with, or touching of, a member of the opposite sex, except for one's spouse and immediate family. Shomer means “guards”, but due to its common use in phrases relating to religious practice, it has come to mean: “adhere to” as well. Negiah is the Hebrew word for “touch”, and thus Shomer Negiah is a term used to describe one who “guards the touch” or simply “adheres to restrictions of touch”. Although the feminine form of the term is technically Shomeret Negiah, it is almost always used in the masculine, even when in reference to women. Shomer Negiah Panties allow a woman to abide by the halacha, but still be individual and sexy at the same time.shomer negiah pantiespost by dovbear on the panties recieved these comments

my pink sexy low cut bras say vlo sasuru in micro print ... lolfrumbabe | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 2:00 pm

why don't you ASK her, DB? Or would that be un-tznius (as opposed to, say, visiting her blog, looking at her panties, and then tattling on your own blog...) :)Tzipporah | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 2:34 pm

this is much more tzanuah.Trust me. I'm a man :)DovBear | 02.22.07 - 2:44 pm

"Shomer Negiah Panties," essentially ordinary cotton undies, I'm going to run over to CafePress and put some "Shomer Negiah Thongs" up for sale.Al Gore | 02.22.07 - 3:07 pm |

What about the fringes? Women unite for equality! We want fringes on our panties!Anonymous | 02.22.07 - 3:13 pm

How about upgrading to a tattoo strategically placed on one's behind? This could be a real trend on the upper west side!Anna Nicole | 02.22.07 - 3:18 pm |

How about upgrading to a tattoo strategically placed on one's behind? This could be a real trend on the upper west side!

Totally unecc. In Willy. they've found the combination of bald heads and really thick stockings serve the same purpose.DovBear | 02.22.07 - 3:27 pm |

that's a weird fetish. :)Tzipporah | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 3:31 pm |

Not a fetish. A form of birth control.Anon | 02.22.07 - 3:39 pm |

I think it's just for giggles. I could imagine SN girls giving each other these panties as a joke... the number of SN guys who'll ever see them on a girl is probably tiny.quietann | 02.22.07 - 4:10 pm | 

Granny panties are by definition shomer negiah.--------

Perhaps what the world REALLY needs are burqas with playboy bunnies or 'party-babe' stencilled across the front.The Back of the Hill | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 4:18 pm |

DB:Been done before. Look, don't you think this makes the statement just a bit more...... pointed? http://www.corkscrew-balloon.com...torture/ 31.html

Anon:"A form of birth control"

A form of birth control??? Wow, I'd hate to know what you consider birth-out-of-control, then.Baal Devarim | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 4:33 pm |

that's hot....ThePervert | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 4:52 pm |

I just don't see it.Then why bother giving old Maya and her incredibly unfunny, juvenile and tasteless underwear any more free publicity? What motivates you to post what you do really mystifies.Chaim G. | 02.22.07 - 5:13 pm |

Oooh, these could be useful for the frum girl who secretly moonlights as a stripper. Warning, guys -- all lookie, no touchie.GoldaLeah | 02.22.07 - 5:19 pm |

the frum girl who secretly moonlights as a stripper. A match truly made in hell as her audience would no doubt comprise frum boys who secretly "moonlight" as patrons of "gentlemens" clubsChaim G. | 02.22.07 - 5:28 pm |

Kinda like the "Sanitized for your protection" ribbons on motel toilets.Psycho Toddler | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 5:54 pm |

A match truly made in hell as her audience would no doubt comprise frum boys who secretly "moonlight" as patrons of "gentlemens" clubs...I now have this mental image of bearded young gentlemen wearing ill-fitting 'gentile' clothes yelling "remove your sheitel, remove your sheitel". Thank you. It will take me a while to get over this trauma.The Back of the Hill | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 6:14 pm |

BOTHDain ershtoinung iz gornit antkegen der ershtoinung fun zaira vaiber If only such occurences were as humurous and harmless as the "sleeveless bar" scene that you conjured.Chaim G. | 02.22.07 - 6:20 pm |

I can see them being a present for a friend too--or a joke for one's husband.I don't see them having any halachic purpose, though. Unless there's a mitzvah to wear tacky panties that I somehow missed.balabusta in blue jeans | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 6:27 pm |

I'm married, and I would wear them. I think they're hilarious. But I'd be too scared to give them to anyone I know--they might take it the wrong way.Rivka | 02.22.07 - 8:39 pm |

Pardon me for the overshare, but I have a pair of panties that say "Girls know best" on the front. And there are times that they are appropriate for the situation, like maybe when I need a reminder that girls really do know best :) (I am almost 43, so hardly a girl, but the sentiment is the same.)Similarly, I could see a shomer negiah young woman wearing these panties on a date. Just knowing what her panties say might help her keep her skirt on!quietann | 02.22.07 - 10:21 pm |

at the mall any day now, i'm expecting to see "Shomer Negiah" stenciled on the butt of some babes yoga pants...eliyahu | Homepage | 02.22.07 - 11:15 pm |

I am truly mystified that this post existsreality | 02.23.07 - 7:38 am |

It's obviously a gag. What's the big deal? Girls that are really shomer are never going to wear them with any expectation that a guy will see them, and those that aren't will wear them for their ironic humor.nicejewishguy | Homepage | 02.23.07 - 11:15 am |

How about upgrading to a tattoo strategically placed on one's behind?Also know as a "Tramp Stamp."Al Gore | 02.23.07 - 12:26 pm |

It should also say "shomer negiah" in braille in case it's dark in the room when being read.Should also say it in Hebrew or Yiddish, so the message is clear to all chareidim as well.B.T.A. | Homepage | 02.25.07 - 1:54 pm |

Ah, should have looked at her site first. DB, now you're linking to tushies?! What a shonda. I go away for a few weeks...In any event, perhaps she could tatoo it on the small of her back, then could wear any panties she likes? Just a thought.B.T.A. | Homepage | 02.25.07 - 1:55 pm |

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tags: Chicago, Dating, halacha, Heeb, hiddur mitzvah, high school, JAP, Jewish, Jewish Life in America, Marriage, mayaescobar, Orthodox Jewish, Panties, religion, shomer negiah panties, Wife, women
categories: Art, culture, feminist, identity, Judaism, Maya Escobar, Shomer Negiah
Tuesday 02.13.07
Posted by maya escobar