Comfort Station is proud to present our September exhibition, When Souls Stick, featuring work by Jess Bass and Gabriel Chalfin-Piney for Chicago Exhibition Weekend.
דאָיִקייט - doikayt - “hereness”
Here and then exists simultaneously in the present as it is retold, rehearsed, reshaped. Through archiving Jewish folktales, studying incantation bowls and Jewish households from the Aramaic period to now, When Souls Stick collages and interprets Jewish history and mysticism to discuss the human impulse, throughout time, to imbue matter with souls and purposes.
The exhibition, corresponding performances and workshops explore how non-conscious objects come to life through mystical encounters, making bonds through human attachments.
In our tale, the Dybbuk (the vengeful ghost), Golem (the savior and destroyer), Ziz (sky and ruler of all birds) and Leviathan (the primordial sea monster) join in a familial affair, connected yet estranged, woven through the sharing of space. Through activated encounters, demons and angels appear.
The audience is asked to engage and move with the performers, following the Anti-Zionist diasporic concept of Doikayt, translated from Yiddish as “hereness.”
Image by Stephen L. Garrett
Jess Bass has exhibited at SPRING/BREAK Art Show (2020, 2022), PLAY/GROUND (2022), Hyde Park Art Center (2022), Terrain Biennial (2021), SITE Gallery (2020), and Detroit Art Week (2019); and featured in The New York Times, Hyperallergic, ArtNews, PASTE, Fader and MTV.
Gabriel Chalfin-Piney has exhibited at Bird Show (2023), Speedwell Projects (2022), Buoy Gallery (2022), Chicago Artists Coalition (2021, 2020), Terrain Exhibitions (2020), High Concept Labs (2019), The Kleinert James Center for the Arts (2017), The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (2017); and featured in New City Magazine, Spaces Archive, and Chicago Reader.
Learn about the symbolism of the moon and how it relates to the exact moment of your birth in a condensed 10 minute session. Receive a hand-made print of your astrological birth chart in terms of the moon and natal lunar phase. See where you are now given your birth place and time in relation to lunar symbolism, using a technique known as the progressed lunation cycle. For a more in-depth reading, you can sign up at rebecca-beachy.com/astrology
Rebecca (she/they) is a Chicago-based artist, writer and educator invested in the subtle and complex relationships between humans and the natural/material world. Her work navigates/meditates on the kinship and tangled histories of animal bodies, objects and the places they inhabit. Sculptural and performative installations/de-compositions are her primary mode of address. Rebecca holds an MA in Art History and an MFA in Studio Arts. Her astrological studies are informed by both the Hellenistic and Modern astrological traditions.
The Dybbuk (of air), Golem (of earth), Ziz (of sky) and Leviathan (of sea) are woven in performance by Zachary Nicol, Jasmine Lupe Mendoza Carrasco and Hannah Mira Friedand, directed by Gabriel Chalfin-Piney. The audience is asked to move with the performers, following the Anti-Zionist diasporic concept of Doikayt (“hereness.”)
Zachary Nicol is an artist and performer based in Chicago. Their work uses research in dance, movement, site, and image to unfold problems of the performing body, and has been presented locally, nationally, and internationally.
Jasmine Lupe Mendoza Carrasco makes performance and organizes around abortion access in Chicago. Their work has been presented in Chicago, New Mexico, New Orleans, and LA, and they have held residences at the Banff Centre, Links Hall, The Arts Club of Chicago, ACRE, and MoMAZoZo.
Hannah Mira Friedland (she/her) is a freelance violist and fiddle player based in Chicago. Hannah Mira plays classical, traditional folk (primarily Klezmer and Celtic), and jazz styles for theater productions, weddings and other life cycle events, dances, synagogue services, and music workshops and has played violin and viola on album recordings and live performances around the world. Recent performances include original musical accompaniment for devised, interactive productions, Forbidden Fruits: A Purim Party at Berlin Nightclub and Festival of Latz at Hairpin Arts Center, string quartet accompaniment with Measuring Marigolds for Queer Music in the Archives at Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, a Klezmer and Simcha music concert at Pushcart Judaica’s Midwest Tour Chicago Pop-up, and a jazz string quartet performance at the New England Aquarium in Boston. Additionally, Hannah Mira can be found playing viola in the Evanston Symphony Orchestra and in an experimental music collective. Raised in a musical family, Hannah Mira earned her B.A. from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she studied music, geography, and religious studies.
Liz Mortensen (she/her) is a Natural Dye Textile Artist based in Chicago, IL. She creates one of a kind wearable pieces that are hand dyed with natural dyes. Her unique designs are marked by vivid colors and weird patterns that create one of a kind designs inspired by the world around her. She has taken years to study natural dyes and minerals to learn the science behind natural color. Liz extracts all dyes in her chicago studio from a variety of plants, food waste, & flowers from her dye garden. Liz is passionate about reducing textile waste and finding new ways to connect with the earth.
Special thanks to the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring our September exhibition & related programming.