Erin Jane Nelson

Av

In Erin Jane Nelson’s 2019 body of work Av, panels are covered in collaged images and shellacked with resin or epoxy: photographs of plants intermingle with pictures of men and women engaging in various spiritual activities, cartoons of mothers and their children, or black and white images of window panes. The panels and ceramics act as backdrops upon which Nelson attempts to establish connections between the natural world and the various cultural and religious orders we impose upon it. She incorporates Jewish symbolism and archival photographs alongside her ongoing photographic practice documenting the environmental collapse of her home region.

This work finds the young American artist examining her southern Jewish heritage in the same breath as climate change and feminism. Av (meaning father) is titled after a biblical or ceremonial allusion. Nelson’s works include many figures, mostly women, performing rites and rituals traditionally assigned to men: wrapping tefillin straps around their arms, reading Torah, wearing a prayer shawl and leading services.

The word “Rebirthing” is visible in the upper left. A mezuzah – an ornament that contains a prayer and marks the doors of Jewish homes – is placed over the wrist of one of the hands, like a bracelet. What might “rebirthing” mean in the context of our political, social, and economic climate? What can be unlearned, relearned, and shared through ritual acts of empathy and trust? What role can a concept as unfashionable as faith play in contemporary dialogue concerning patrimony and survival? Where do people presently make space for collective healing, joy, and support? What can the ceremonies of our past teach us about our sure-to-be disembodied and perilous futures?