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Tova Gorman-Baer

@selkiestitches

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🌼 i’m better at art than i am at writing bios 🌺
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It’s been so long since I’ve posted something on here! I made these little cuties for a mutual aid sail to support my grieving community through this horrific occupation. Check out my story (on 2/28) or the “Mutual Aid Sail” highlight on my profile to customize and claim yours! 🍃🌈🔮 (PS— it’s not a mutual aid “sail” but look, I’m not taking any chances with the algorithm) by @selkiestitches
Thank you to everyone who came out to the reception for “Never Again for Anyone” this week, or who has helped us stitch the title banner! This multimedia exhibition, a collab between me and my neighbor @selkiestitches, is rooted in the poetry archive buried in the Warsaw Ghetto and its haunting echoes in Gaza. Through sculpture, embroidery, poetry, video, research literature and a community-made protest banner, we explore power and responsibility in the face of repeating cycles of fascism. On view through November 30 at the MCAD library. Big thanks to @cathstar7 for the wonderful photos! #mfa #mcadmfa #sculpture #installation #researchbased #exhibition #neveragain #holocaust #warsawghetto #poetryinhell #socialpractice #community #communityart #publicart #artivism by @selkiestitches
I’ve been sitting with, learning from, and embroidering these poems for months now. Shortly after the inauguration, I turned to “Poetry in Hell,” an online archive of poetry from the Warsaw ghetto, looking for guidance on making art in the darkest of times. What began as a very personal coping mechanism soon grew as I partnered with @kohenet.riv to create an installation at MCAD. Riv has been working with kri’ah, a Jewish mourning ritual that involves tearing fabric (typically clothes). You can visit our installation, Never Again For Anyone, at @mcadlibrary from now until November 30th— and you’re invited to pin or sew fabric onto the banner we’re creating to hold our collective grief, anger, and fear. Slides: 1. My embroidered poetry 2. From “Fever Ballad” by Itzik Manger 3. From “Longing” by Kubi Vahl 4. From “It’s Burning (The Waif)”, author unknown 5. From “My Last Request” by Moishe Kaufman 6. From “Like a Miracle” by Zusman Segalovitch 7. Our installation at MCAD 8. Close-up of the community banner in progress 9. Workshop stitching the banner Please visit poetryinhell.org to view the full archive of poems, and visit our show for more resources. by @selkiestitches
Sharing my latest WIP as proof of life 🐦🌻🌹 by @selkiestitches
My travel journal is finished! I only started it because @rianannk and @melissa.borman were grading me during a study abroad in 2017— I didn’t fully see the point then, but now it’s one of my favorite souvenirs from every trip. Especially with my shaky memory. When I met Angie in Norway, my journaling technique really took off— check out @bobodesignstudio for all your journaling supply and inspiration needs! In Arizona a few weeks ago, I bought a new journal. I’m holding onto hope that my future contains new adventures and creativity. ☀️🎨🏔️ by @selkiestitches
I forgot to take a picture of this lil’ fella in their hoop, but I stitched them on my ice-dyed fabric from last year! They’re on their way to @mxhannahb now. Bon voyage little guy! 💚🐌🍀 by @selkiestitches
I made a sweet lil’ birthday card for my mom by embroidering on a vintage postcard! This is my first post since the world turned upside down on January 20. It feels really strange and really wrong, like business as usual isn’t appropriate right now. For the first week after the inauguration I didn’t feel like I was allowed to do anything— how was I supposed to eat, sleep, make art, take walks when the world was on fire?? I still feel that way sometimes, but I’m also rooting in the knowledge that I am an artist, and art is a tool of resistance, resilience, and connection. Art alone cannot save the world, but it can save me, so I’ll live to fight another day. 🌸🍃🌈 by @selkiestitches
Here’s how I’m coping. How are you coping? by @selkiestitches
It’s Elul, and this has been the hardest year I’ve had in a long time. So much loss, disaster, and sickness in my family. We’re coming up on a year of the escalated genocide in Gaza with no ceasefire in sight, and the scariest election season of my life. This year I have learned to snatch joy from the jaws of despair. I’ve been celebrating and laughing at the same time as I’ve been mourning. I’ve learned about blessings I have that I wish I could’ve continued to take for granted. And the sun continues to rise and set on it all. In August, we moved to Powderhorn Park. I miss the life I had before this disaster year, but it’s been a real bright spot to forge a new life for myself. May 5785 hold us all a little softer. by @selkiestitches
This is a long read— I promise it’s going somewhere. I knew it was going to be a rush to get my zine, Uneasy Spirits, ready for the @thehauntedbasement Dreams & Nightmares show this weekend. But I had no idea what else the world had planned for me first. Last week, I picked up 90 beautiful, full-color pages from the printers. I was about to go on a long weekend trip with friends, so I left the pages on my dresser to assemble when I returned. On Sunday, the last day of our trip, I got a call from my landlord that he had heard about a “minor water issue” in our apartment and was heading over to check it out. You can swipe through to see what he found instead. Our kitchen ceiling caved in, rendering the kitchen unusable. Water soaked through the walls of our back hallway and my bedroom. When the emergency contractor showed up she put her hand through the wall with the barest pressure. Somehow my beautiful art wall survived, but all my favorite books were soaked… and so were the zines. Our home was uninhabitable, so we took our vacation suitcases right out the door and went to stay with a friend. Sunday was spent driving home, assessing the damage, and exchanging frantic correspondence with our landlord. Monday we met to dissolve our lease and scrambled to find a place to stay. Tuesday we moved into an Airbnb where we’ll be staying through July. Wednesday was spent packing my life into boxes. I wouldn’t have made it through if it wasn’t for my love Ciel and my friends Ian, Ella, Lulav, Nick, Luca, Skot, and Madeline, who supported us, housed us, helped us pack, and offered us shoulders to cry on. It’s been a hard, busy week. And whenever I had a spare moment, I spent it laying out my zine’s pages to dry, pressing them to reduce the crinkling, folding and assembling them, and stitching the pages together to bind them. I finished last night and dropped them off at @bumbling_fools_mead today. So if you come to the show (which I hope you will! Opening 5-10 tomorrow!) and find some crinkly, slightly waterstained zines for sale… know the path they, and I, have taken to get there and how much it means to me to show my art to you. by @selkiestitches
You all had lovely suggestions but I think it was done already! Made with 100% ORTs (Old Ratty Threads, aka the remnants of other projects) 🌿🌻🖤 . . . . . . . . #embroidermay #embroidery #fiberart #multimedia #environmentalart by @selkiestitches
I’m almost done with my newest embroidery but I’m stuck on it so you get a collage card instead. 💎💸💜 . . . . . . . . #queerart #collage #papercrafts #handmade by @selkiestitches

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