IN THE MAKING

CRAFT VICTORIA, MELBOURNE – 2008

This work was a response to issues of power and suppression, guile and cunning, the predator and the preyed upon; all contained dilemmas that encouraged expression of this work.

Photograph by David McArthur.

MIND MAPS

CRAFT VICTORIA, MELBOURNE – 2005

Sometimes when I look in the mirror I wonder: “ Is that really me?”
Charting the scope of the mind takes one to places of vulnerability in the nexus between ideas and the realisation of the work.

The historical aspects of light, mirrors and perspective especially in context with miniatures, manuscripts and portrait painting, where symbols such as crystal reflected signs of purity and truth, the convex mirror the all seeing eye, is the basis of this work.

Photograph by David McArthur.

THE JUDITH ALTMAN MEMORIAL JUDAICA COMPETITION

TEMPLE JUDEA MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA, USA – 2003

One of the central precepts of Judaism is to remember, to hand on our stories from generation to generation – L'dor v'dor, so that nothing is lost. Yet at the same time, memory is a living thing, not static, and each generation adds its own interpretation.

I remember as a child lighting our family Hannukiah, a traditional ritual object made in Israel with a Star of David embossed on both sides.

One hot summer in our backyard, my children made their own Chunnukiah by gluing gumnuts to a brightly coloured base they had painted. Each of these objects now evokes a memory of a specials time and place.

As a maker, creating Judaica enhances and defines my own sense of identity – as an Australian, an artist, a daughter, a mother, a Jew. To bring a new voice and contemporary aesthetic to a ritual object enhances the beauty and sacredness of the ceremony.

The candlesticks and Hannukah Menorah are tactile ritual obkects which can be physically passed down through the generations. Fused into them is something less tangible: the fragility of memory and interpretation which history embellishes.

The medium I work in has its own particular characteristics. I wish to honor these qualities and at the same time create an object which develops its own narrative.

Photograph by David McArthur.

MEMORY WORKS

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ART GALLERY, CANBERRA – 2002
SYDNEY JEWISH MUSEUM – 2002
CRAFT VICTORIA, MELBOURNE AND CRAFT QLD – 2002

"Glass as a material is fragile, breakable. Not very much survives as material witness to history. That which remains is precious and treasured. Ede works in cast glass. It is challenging material to work with, to mould to shape and to master. And although it is vulnerable it is weighty. It has real presence."

Light and glass are synonymous. One reflects and dances off the other.

(Memory Works catalogue essay by Helen Light, Director, Jewish Museum of Australia 2002.)


TALES OF MIGRATION
The dish is a vehicle, which symbolises the knowledge passed around the family table. Three generation of my family; my parents, my children and myself.

My parents grew up in apartments: I grew up in a home and my children live in two houses. Row 2 My parents met in Australia and planted their seeds; I have two sons and who knows if they will bear fruit. My parents wore wedding rings: I cherish the locket I was given as a child and at this time neither of my sons wore jewellery. My mother trained as a corsetiere, my brother was a businessman and my children were in school.
The black dishes with the objects represent tangible objects of our lives: The clear empty dishes the future. The more I explored my family history, the empty dishes moved.

See reviews and press releases for the exhibition. See the catalogue for this exhibition.

All photographs by Stuart Hay except for total view of Tales Of Migration by David McArthur.