Smalti mosaic, mixed media, 2019
My tile draws on visual and material elements from Pittsburgh, where the Tree of Life Synagogue has lived since 1864. Photo transfers of the three buildings in which the congregation has been housed since the early 20th-century form the central “tree” in my tile. Between its two branches is a fossil with leaf patterns from the Monongahela River. The textures and colors that surround the tree of life in my piece convey the theme of destruction and rebirth.