Image of the Week: Still Life in the Sukkah
© D. Yael Bernhard
Today was the first day of Sukkot – a lesser-known Jewish holiday in which a sukkah, or temporary booth, is constructed and used for seven days as a place to eat, read, reflect, rest, and invite guests. Like Easter or Christmas, Sukkot has several meanings. Among its many names are the "Feast of Ingathering," to celebrate the autumn harvest; the "Festival of Booths," commemorating the temporary huts that farmers in centuries past slept in adjacent to their fields during the harvest, as well as shelters built by the ancient Israelites on their journey across the Sinai Desert; and the “Festival of Uncertainty” – a celebration of impermanence, as the hut, or booth, is meant to be constructed as something quite temporary, with no real shelter and space enough in the ceiling to allows stars to show through. I use fabric for the walls, and the tall stalks of Jerusalem artichoke flowers as lattice material for the open roof. As the holiday progresses, the flowers and foliage wither and die, and the full moon that rises on the first day of Sukkot wanes. Here in the Northeast, the leaves also fall and the temperature drops . . . all reminders of impermanence. Sukkot is therefore a way of participating in the cycle of seasons, and of life and death.
Still Life in the Sukkah is the image for October in this year's Jewish Eye Calendar of Art (which is now sold out in my webstore but still available on Amazon). My cousin's yarzheit fell during the holiday, making this still-life special, as I spent hours thinking of dear Cuz Steve while I painted his photo, and the candle lit in his memory. In warmer regions, some people sleep in their sukkat shalom – shelter of peace – truly a pleasure (and a mitzvah), as the little hut both creates a unique space and opens to something beyond it.
Some people think still-lifes are boring, but as a lifelong admirer of Cézanne, I love them. It's very challenging to make ordinary objects come alive – to transform them, as Cézanne did with unparalleled vigor and grace – into something more than a piece of fruit, a draped cloth, or a vase. These objects memorialize the story of our everyday lives. They exist in three-dimensional space – and while the challenge of rendering this on a flat surface exists for all subject matter drawn from life, there's something unavoidably direct about a still-life. This painting was so challenging, I did two versions of it. The first version (left) departed slightly from the realistic subject. The second (above) was painted using only the first as reference, well after the holiday was over and the still-life was put away (and eaten – another interesting aspect of this genre). This second version departed even further from reality, and is also simpler, with no patterns in the fabric, and more emphasis on the wind that caused the scarf on the table to billow like something alive, and even blew the entire sukkah down. This still-life was anything but still!
For me, painting has become a new way to experience this special home-based holiday, and to preserve my memory of the sukkah I built last year. Both original paintings are for sale, and measure 18"x24"; please inquire if you're interested.
To all my Jewish friends, Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday)!
D Yael Bernhard