A photographic series and handmade headpieces by Dafna Tzidkiyahu
Presented at the Knesset, Jerusalem, 2023.
The Woman in Judaism includes a series of thirteen photographic portraits of women wearing headpieces Tzidkiyahu conceived, designed and made by hand.
Since the 2023 exhibition, she has created additional sculptural headpieces, bringing the total to twenty. The head covering becomes a point where religious identity, portraiture and sculptural form meet.
The work centers on relation. Nearness appears together with tension, attention, and mutual dependence.
The image draws on the cherubim facing one another in the Temple. Here, relation becomes the form itself: a space shaped by distance, gaze, and reciprocity.
The gaze moves between adornment and endurance. Reflection becomes a site of vitality held under pressure.
The work refers to the copper mirrors associated with the women of Israel in Egypt. Here, the mirror becomes a charged object carrying presence, vitality, and persistence within constraint.
Lines gather into a single structure that holds division and connection at once.
The work refers to the Kabbalistic structure of the Ten Sefirot as a system of relations, transitions, and concentrated force. Form here is shaped through connection, division, and visual weight.
Light appears as a point of transition. A small gesture reshapes the space and establishes a different time.
The work refers to the lighting of Shabbat and festival candles. The gesture marks a shift from daily time into a defined space of gathering, rhythm, and presence.
Rhythm remains present even in stillness. The body holds movement through posture and gesture.
The work draws on Miriam as a figure associated with feminine leadership and collective voice. The tambourine becomes a structure of movement and shared force, sustained even in silence.
Books rest on the head as both burden and crown. Knowledge appears as something carried, embodied, and transmitted.
The work addresses proximity to text and intergenerational memory. Knowledge takes form here as weight, authority, and responsibility.
Light recedes and returns. Presence is shaped through cycles, absence, and renewal.
The moon is linked to cyclical time and renewal. The work reflects a form of presence that emerges through transformation rather than continuity.
The home forms around the body. Closeness becomes protection, intimacy, and limit at once.
The work treats the home as a structure shaped through care and presence. It becomes a symbolic and emotional space in which protection, intimacy, and boundaries coexist.
