Inspired by Matisse’s The Dance, this is my own version of what it feels like to lose yourself in a music festival with friends, the pulse of the crowd, the liberation of movement, the joy of dressing up, of being wholly and wildly yourself.
 
As the 2nd painting in this series, I couldn’t paint anything else, without first paying homage to all the victims of Nova by remembering them in joy. This painting is a celebration of unity, of release, of becoming part of something greater. 
 
We have seen the “foreshortened hand” again and again, reaching out in too many places, always ready to remind us that our presence is unwanted. And still — I paint and I dance. 
 
I am proud to be Jewish. And in the face of it all, free in my heart to create.