Heroes of the Holocaust Series

Heroes of the Holocaust is a series of fabric assemblage portraits honoring artists who, during the Holocaust, used creativity as a form of resistance and a means of asserting their humanity. Despite facing unimaginable persecution, these individuals continued to create—to document what they witnessed, preserve identity, teach, bear testimony, and leave evidence of lives the Nazis sought to erase. Their art became an act of courage, resilience, survival, and defiance.

Each portrait is constructed with layered textiles. I apply scraps of fabric like strokes of paint, building expressive, painterly images from a distance and intricate, intimate stories up close. Within the portraits and backgrounds, I incorporate references to the artists’ own work, words, experiences, and histories, creating a visual connection between my portraits and the lives they honor.

This work grew out of years of research and from a question posed to me by a student during my more than twenty years as an art educator: “Why didn’t the Jewish people fight back?” That question stayed with me. Heroes of the Holocaust seeks to broaden our understanding of resistance—to recognize that documenting what was happening, preserving culture and identity, teaching children, creating beauty, and continuing to make art in circumstances designed to destroy both humanity and hope were themselves profound acts of defiance.

As a Jewish artist, this work took on new urgency after the October 7th terror attacks and the global resurgence of antisemitism. Grounded in the Jewish concept of tikkun olam—“repairing the world”—these portraits serve as both memorial and testimony. I hope viewers come to know the individuals behind the history, encounter the art they left behind, and understand that resistance can take many forms.

“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
—Dylan Thomas