From ships and pots to buildings and books, the world is full of vessels. Some say even the human body is a vessel that contains many more vessels. While vessels vary in size and function, they all hold or carry something, whether it’s people, materials or even ideas.
A new exhibit at the Jewish Cultural Center brings together the works of 25 local and nationally known artists to explore the theme of vessels.
The widely varied works, which extend from the center’s lobby to an ancillary corridor, are less about their utilitarian value (there are ships and pots on display) and more about the talents and intentions of their makers.
Award-winning Woodstock, Georgia artist Maxine Hess and Marietta, Georgia resident Stephen Samuels, for example, are contributing their mixed media project, “Mitzvot Garden,” to the Jewish Cultural Center’s “Vessels” exhibit.
Hess is a professional artist focused on social justice; Samuels began wood working as a retirement hobby. Early last year, the two agreed to collaborate on a “tzedek box,” a new ritual that supports Jews and their allies in their pursuit of a more just world.
Hess and Samuels’ box became a vessel for collecting their individual “mitzvahs,” or “good deeds,” throughout 2023, such as sending condolences to the family of a deceased neighbor.
The project took on a more profound purpose after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Hess said during an opening reception for the exhibit Jan. 13.
“I’m an activist; my art has a purpose,” she explained. “’Mitzvot Garden’ is about the things we can do as individuals to make the world a more just place.”
“Mitzvot Garden” consists of a box made of plywood, repurposed commercial fabrics and embroidered thread. Hess and Samuels inserted tiny leaf-shaped pieces of fabric on which Hess had embroidered their good deeds through a slot in the top.
As Hess opened the box during the reception, she was surprised to discover someone had placed money in it. She said she considered that a “mitzvah,” the singular form of “mitzvot.”
Hess has exhibited nationally and internationally, and her works have been reviewed in the Atlanta Jewish Times and other publications. Samuels has made a number of Judaic works, including the Tree of Life, Torah scrolls and the Star of David.
“Mitzvot Garden” rests on a podium at the front of the corridor at the Jewish Cultural Center. Around the corner in the lobby, guests can find Chattanooga-born Bob McElhaney’s “Wings,” a vessel made from the inverted and hollowed-out base of a dogwood tree.
McElhaney, 83, is a former builder who oversaw the construction of many commercial buildings in Chattanooga during his 38-year career. After he retired, he moved with his wife to Alexian Village and learned the art of wood-turning, which involves using a rotating lathe and handheld tools to carve an object.
To acquire the materials for his creations, McElhaney seeks out pieces of wood of varying sizes and shapes and then experiments with them to reveal the qualities of the inner grain as well as the wood’s natural defects, he said while attending the reception.
While McElhaney has turned wood he’s found on the side of a road into art, he acquired the wood for “Wings” from the remains of a dogwood tree that had been felled on a property earmarked for a new apartment complex.
“The only thing left was the stump, which nobody wanted,” McElhaney explains. “The moment I saw it, I wanted it. I took it home, placed it on my lathe, and turned it into a signature piece.”
“Wings” takes its name from the knotty base of the tree, which McElhaney turned into a splayed rim. During the reception, he slowly rotated the piece to point out the natural imperfections in the wood that had turned dark as he worked them with his lathe.
“This patch is where bark had been peeled away,” he explained. “The lathe turned this defect into something beautiful that gives the vessel character.”
Many of the pieces at “Vessel” are available for purchase. McElhaney has set a price of $4,500 for “Wings.”
Across the lobby, Bob Fazio’s “Pentangeli” has a comparatively small price tag of $500. The vase, which is made of thrown stoneware and features five sculpted figures sitting on the rim, attracted a steady stream of admirers during the reception. (Throwing is a method of forming vessels by throwing wet clay onto the center of the pottery wheel so it maintains contact with the wheel head while the wheel is in motion.)
A 50-year potter, Fazio initially threw “Pentangeli” in two pieces of dark stoneware – the top and the bottom – and then threw it again as a single piece. After allowing it to dry, he sculpted the figures, attached them to the rim and then embellished the rim with seashells – a common element in his works.
While researching the number five, Fazio decided the figures should be faceless and represent what he says are the different spiritual meanings of the number, which include grace, mercy, favor, beholding or looking, and working or walking.
“That added a mystical element to the piece and revealed the angelic qualities to me,” Fazio revealed during the reception.
The ambiguous qualities of “Pentangeli” allow the beholder to draw their own meaning from the piece, added Fazio, who’s taught art in Chattanooga for 40 years.
“Vessel” contains not just these three pieces but also many more, all of which explore their own themes that tie into the larger narrative.
“Vessel” is on view at the Jewish Cultural Center (5461 North Terrace Road) through Friday, Feb. 23. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays or by appointment. There is no cost to attend the exhibit, although the center does appreciate donations.