papa (ancestor panel for One House)

30 X 30 cm   .   acrylic, beads, glitter, found objects, foam core, paper on mahogany panel  .   (2017)

My panel for the One House project paid homage to my dad's mom's dad, Simon Lachman, who immigrated to the U.S. from Poland in 1911. Research through geneology sites, interviews with family members, and scouring the Ellis Island archives -- such an amazing life. How to represent him honestly, artistically, and effectively within a one-foot-square? Came up with a timeline, pulling out six important aspects of his biography: his birth in a Polish shtetl where he worked on a farm; his immigration to the U.S.; establishing roots in Astoria as a tailor; starting a hotel in the Catskills; managing and eventually buying property on Miami Beach, including a South Beach hotel that still stands; and exploring his own artistic talents with mosaics in his last decade.