Fallow Grains

mil wexler kobrinski

About mil wexler kobrinski

Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, I came to the United States as a small child. While in high school, I concurrently attended classes at the Art Students League, the Brooklyn Museum Art School, and the New School of Social Research in New York City. After high school, I returned to Amsterdam as an apprentice to the artist Jos Rovers. During this time, I also attended classes at the Rijks Academy in Amsterdam. After spending the summer of ’73 in Ein Hod, an artist village in Israel, I ended up living in Israel for nearly three years. In Israel, I became a ceramic painter for Lapid Ceramics in Yafo. Returning to New Jersey, I have taught ceramics and art appreciation at Monmouth University, Brookdale College, and I am currently teaching ceramics at Ocean County College, NJ, as well as painting and ceramic classes in my New Jersey studio. 

About Fallow Grains

The Havdala ceremony, ending the sabbath and separating the mundane days to a metaphysical time has always been intriguing to me as an artist. My curiosity in creating Havdala Boxes is to play with its symbolic meaning. By changing its scale, I automatically place it out of context and create new interest. I hope to establish new territory and conversation with the boxes I create. This Shmita, (Fallow Grains) Havdala box that I created is especially meaningful not only for separating the end of Shabbat but would be used to acknowledge the Shmita year. I carved various grains on the outside of the box. Inside I would insert herbs that were found on a fallow field, representative of Shmita.