We, Too, Bleed Red

We, Too, Bleed Red, an installation and accompanying performance work, was simultaneously a memorial to those tragically lost or kidnapped in Israel on October 7th, 2023, and a pointed reminder of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Both the physical piece and the performance functioned to promote my personal belief that holding multiple truths is not only possible, but necessary.

I uphold the Kabbalistic notion that every loss of life is the death of a universe. For the installation, 1,500 red strands of thread were suspended from above. Each thread represented a lifeline falling into a pool of red; a symbol of voices permanently silenced.

Drawing on the Jewish tradition of mourning, I performed an ongoing grief ritual within the installation. I sat barefoot on the floor, as is customary in a Jewish house of mourning, writing prayers on red paper before rolling them into small scrolls. The ritual centered on prayers written to stop the continued loss of innocent life. To foster a shared space for grief, I invited exhibition attendees to join me by asking, “Would you like to sit Shiva with me?” and then offering them red paper to write their own prayers or to simply sit with me in prayerful silence.