Joseph Goldfedder

"Tapestry of Life" - Sponsored by West Windsor Arts Council

We’ve entitled this exhibition “The Tapestry of Life” to encompass a collaboration of styles: art as both process and the embodiment of healing. In one case, color and form invite the viewer to reflect on how they view their body and its healing potential. In the other case, artistic expression becomes a portal to quilt together memories, tactile sensations of connection and the experience of grief and loss.

Merwick Care & Rehabilitation Center
“The Tapestry of Life”  
Exhibit featuring works by Joseph Goldfedder and Audrey Jakab
Opening Reception:  Tuesday, 9/12/23 from 5 – 7pm
Merwick Care & Rehabilitation Center
100 Plainsboro Rd
Plainsboro Two, NJ 08536

Exhibit Dates: September 12th – November 3rd, 2023

Audrey JAkab

“J4A”
2023, Japanese Cotton Fabric, 55” x 67” 
Not for Sale

 “Halloween Quilt”
2021, Cotton Fabric, 50” x 71″
$800

 “Hexagon Quilt”
2021, Cotton Fabric, 43” x 68”
$800

“Ghana Quilt”
2021, Wax Print Cotton Fabric, 55” x 71”
Not for Sale

Joseph Goldfedder

“I am here”
2023, Acrylic on canvas, 4’ x 6’

 “Healing Posture”
2023, Acrylic on canvas,
4’ x 6’

“Grace”
 2023, Acrylic on canvas,
4’ x 6’

“One Field”
2023, Acrylic on canvas,
4’ x 6’

Artist Statements 
Audrey Jakab: 
I started quilting shortly after my mother died in 2007.  When I was a child, Mom taught me how to sew and after her passing, she taught me how to heal through the process of making art.  My sister and I had to go through her closet and help my father clear out her clothing.  I couldn’t bear to part with her beautiful shirts and pants, so I repurposed them into a memory quilt.  The process of making the blanket helped me decipher and get through some of the sadness and pain of losing her.
 
Despite not knowing how to make a quilt, I figured it out. Every time the blanket covers me, the warmth, weight and texture help me feel physically close to my mother.  Years later, I’m still making machine sewn quilts because the process of working with fabric, color, pattern, shape and thread is so delicious and exciting! I still ‘figure it out’ as I go along and upon closer inspection, this gives them a more hand-made and less formal appearance.  The sculptor in me enjoys the scale and the physicality of the layered materials and the painter in me sings with the challenge of combining the repetitive design elements.
 
In the end, like the feeling under the cover of these blankets, the process of creating them is grounding and restorative.
Joseph Goldfedder: 
In thinking about this show at Merwick, I wanted to create work that was appropriate for the space, both in scale and content. I decided to combine my interest in energy, the biofield and figurative representation as offerings in a moment of time.  I was thinking how imagery and vibrant color could positively affect people passing through the hallway.  How might this vibrancy help shift a viewer’s own image of their body and its miraculous healing potential?
 
As an acupuncturist I have witnessed the effects of “Qi ” or energy in helping people facilitate their own healing.  The functional concept is that the body’s pathways or meridians can get blocked obstructing the energy flow, which much like a traffic jam, creates chaos or stagnation, that could lead to pain or even disease.  By promoting circulation of energy, the body is able to self regulate, create balance or homeostasis and heal.
 
In my painting process I like to experiment with scraping away color to help define the image as well as reveal bold colors underneath.  By approaching the painting like a drawing, it somehow frees my creative spirit almost like an exciting dance of discovery. When I follow my intuitive sense, the image slowly reveals itself within the layers of colors. In this exhibit of paintings, I have found myself in a new creative and exciting process.