Eden Morris, USA

Parshat Vayishlach

Bio

Eden Morris studied at Brandeis University where she earned her BA in Fine Arts in 1993 and she received her MFA in painting in 1997 from Boston University. She has exhibited nationally and is currently living and working in New York, NY, where she continues to explore and create her own interpretation of beginnings and relationships using the Bible for inspiration.

Reflections on Being a Jewish Woman Artist

As a painter, I am seduced by the idea of beginnings and the power of creating. As a woman, I am intrigued by relationships that are the driving forces in our lives. I have made a series of paintings using the stories from Genesis. The two stories of Adam and Eve in the Bible, as explained by the Midrash, define the cycle of relationships — chance, connection, loss and hope — where anything can happen. More recently I have been inspired by the stories in Vayera which to me, can be described as three beginnings and one middle. There are so many horrifying aspects — the inhumane (and yet all too human) treatment of family and others is a driving force in the story.

Although the characters in my paintings are derived from the Midrash, I do not feel constricted by traditional explanations. According to my reading, Creation did not end on the sixth day; the human quest for love continues, forbidden temptations and break-ups influence and shape the world and in an ongoing act of creation in partnership with God we are constantly faced with choices and decisions to make.