In April 2020, as artist in digital residence at
mhProject, twice a week I shared here and via email small digital assemblages, for a total of 5. For these works, I was guided by the assemblages of two Polish Jewish women avant-garde artists,
Erna Rosenstein and
Krystiana Robb-Narbutt. (Some of the footage is four years old, but they’ve taken on a new clarity now.)
First, Erna. Back in 2016, I saw a poster promoting an exhibit at the Jewish Museum with an assemblage by Erna Rosenstein. It must have been the C train. At the time, I didn’t remember her name, but back in 1996, on a school trip (when I still lived in Warsaw), I visited the artist in her studio. I don’t remember her paintings. But I have a vivid memory of the table with her assemblages. At the time and for much longer, it seemed unfathomable to me that a woman could have her own space for experimentation and assemblage.
The next time that I was in awe of how a woman so thoroughly owned her place of production, was in 2008, when I visited Krystiana Robb-Narbutt’s home studio. It was about two years after she passed. Of course, she is the other Polish Jewish woman artist known for her assemblages.
Their works are not similar, but they are both box-size; in different ways, they are also very sensual. They have their own language of critiquing systems (technological, social). Erna’s have more humor, Krystiana’s are more seductive.
Guided by these memories in the midst of this time of isolation, I worked hard to to bring you the
Money Making Machine.
I hope these works make you want to get some work done.
Tusia