Two Prayers and 2010 (2015)
The images below are two accordion fold books, Two Prayers and 2010, meant to be displayed standing on a pedestal or table as a sequence.
Two Prayers is an illustration of the sound project – a weaving together of two prayers, the Muslim Athan (Call to Prayer) and Jewish Sh’ma, preformed by Ayesha Mohyuddin and Sophia Keskey. Although we both live in the United States, the illustration strongly locates the work in Jerusalem, a city that physically weaves together many religions, in an unintentional (and perhaps abhorred) coexistence.
2010 is a reflection on and accumulation of my high school semester abroad in Israel. My semester is represented in snippets taken from journals and snapshots pulled from Facebook friends with myself removed from each image. It took six years of artwork, research, writing, and education to critically revisit this four month trip.
City Cathedral (2014)
Click on the image for a PDF of the art book, City Cathedral.
Setting aside of space for the sacred has always been a component of the city. Cathedrals, in particular, occupy a unique paradox in this practice of urban sanctuary. Under an aloof facade, a cathedral is central to its city acting as place of worship and penance, refuge, and commerce, as well as the subject of great works of culture. Looking specifically at the Hagia Sophia, Canterbury Cathedral, Notre Dame of Paris, and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, this book seeks to highlight this hidden centrality through excerpts from historical texts, song lyrics, modern online interactions, and questions – both general and specific.
By creating a continuum of tradition between cathedral and city, I hope to place the Cathedral Basilica and St. Louis (despite being relatively new locations) into the greater history of the city cathedral. (Text taken in part from the “Introduction” of City Cathedral).
The St. Louis School District: Food Deserts and Free & Reduced Lunch
Click on the image below for a PDF of the expository book, The St. Louis School District.
This book briefly explores the intersection between food deserts and schools with high Free and Reduced Lunch rates in the St. Louis City School District.
Reconciling Paradox (2011)
The portfolio below is the work created for my high school senior thesis exhibition. Despite being created in high school, Reconciling Paradox represents the origin of my studio art practice.
High School Statement
My thesis began as a personal journey into my Jewish faith. As I spent a semester abroad in Israel, I realized that self-exploration necessitated the exploration into the supposed opposite, transforming into an artistic investigation into the greater Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This collection of artworks has two portions; on one hand there is the confrontation of the Conflict, and on the other is the capacity for Hope.
Confronting Conflict manifests itself in grotesque wounds. These wounds were strictly impulsive (“Wound I”). Catching me unaware, these wounds are the personal hurt and figurative self mutilation accumulated over centuries of conflict, decades if separating and developing an “us versus them” mentality – despite the fact that these infected and open wounds are inflicted upon a common stretch of flesh.
However, as an inherently optimistic person (naive?), I strongly believe in the capacity for Hope within this Conflict. Suggested through the weaving together of symbols in beautiful combinations, as well as snapshots of personal and familial human life, the common bond between the sides of this duality exist. This bond is represented especially by the Hamsa (“A Map Key to My Work”) a symbol shared by both Judaism and Islam, and traditionally used to ward off the Evil Eye. In many ways the Hamsas of my work act as a salve.
Within these two portions, the paradox begins to come to life. My artwork is not a mandate of an absolute solution or answer, it is a depiction of the dual realities Hope-Conflict, Israel-Palestine, Jew-Mulism that run just beneath the surface.
Sophia Keskey 