Ripple Bowls
Shirah Rubin
About Shirah Rubin
I am a sculptor who works in mixed media, often ceramics. I have experience working with cast ceramic pieces that can be replicated. I have the ability to enhance the rim of the ripple bowls with Jewish texts. I utilize a visual language with materials appropriate to the metaphorical, historical, and social elements of a project. I recently received an award from the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Artist-In-Residence program. As a teaching artist, I develop art workshops for audiences ranging from young children through adults in museums, universities, schools, camps, and synagogues. I exhibited a collaborative youth artwork at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I have led art workshops at the Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem; the Jewish Museum in New York City; the Fresh Air Fund at Camp Hidden Valley, NY; Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design Hillel and Gallery; and Camp Yavneh in New Hampshire.
About Ripple Bowls
I propose that this Rosh Hoshana we usher in the Shmita year with a new counting ritual. We would recite the blessing for eating a new fruit and each person would count the number of pomegranate seeds on their plate to brainstorm the number of ways we can become protectors of the earth. The Ripple Bowls are two sets of bowls. The first is a bowl in which herbs are grown, and the second is a bowl that one uses for eating fruit. The idea of those two nested bowls raises the question of how we create more awareness of what we plant and how we eat.
