The Bread of Affliction, Streit’s matzo, masking tape, table, chairs, dishes, prayer books, ceremonial food, 30″ x 36″ x 96″ table and 31″ x 18″ x 16″ chairs, 2020
In this project, I covered my family’s dining room chairs in matzo, “the bread of affliction,” to convey how the Jewish holiday of Passover was impacted by Covid-19. The fragility of matzo speaks to the precarious nature of health during the pandemic. By placing the pieces of matzo on our dining room chairs, I wanted to highlight the juxtaposition of something that is supposed to be comfortable becoming uncomfortable. The chairs are drastically spaced out to mirror the kind of social distancing we had to practice at our seder and the absence of many of our friends and family.
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