FRUMA MARKOWITZ
artist / photographer
Books
Doors Into Morocco >
A one-of-a-kind, accordion format artist handmade book
“Doors into Morocco” was born out of my recent exploration of new materials that I’d like to incorporate into my photographic practice. Having already pivoted in the past few years away from classic, representational image-making towards working mostly with alternative, historical, or experimental processes, I’ve embarked on a new adventure with collage, textiles, stitchwork, and even acrylic paint. And, with hand-made one-of-a-kind artist books, of which this one is my first. More >
Madonnelle >
A one-of-a-kind, flag format artist hand-made book
“Italian Madonnelle are commemorative street shrines that are affixed to the walls and cornices of buildings and other public structures. Dating from as far back as ancient Rome, the tradition began as paintings or statues of domestic Roman deities called Lares, placed at crossroads to protect passersby from evil spirits who were said to haunt pedestrians in the evenings. As Rome became Christian, these were replaced with Madonnelle, miniature street shrines devoted to the Virgin Mary. More>
Berberisca: The Great Dress >
A one-of-a-kind, flag format artist hand-made book
With its roots in fifteenth-century Spain, the Berberisca, otherwise known as “The Great Dress,” or keswa-el-kbira (in Arabic), is a traditional wedding dress worn by Moroccan and Algerian Jewish women of Sephardic descent. Traditionally, a father gifts his daughter a Berberisca dress for her wedding, and the first time she wears it is at the henna ceremony, before the actual wedding. The velvet dress with its gold detailing, twenty-two braided gold curves on the skirt representing the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and the large gold embroidered swirls of the bodice representing the circle of life, establishes it as a symbol of the bride’s new role as the guardian of Jewish tradition in the home as she embarks on building her future family. More >
