"Little" Shoah c. 1984

Curator: This is "Little" Shoah by Stella Waitzkin, created around 1984. It's a mixed-media assemblage that incorporates relief sculpture. What strikes you first about it? Editor: The darkness, definitely. And a claustrophobia. The box-like structure coupled with that crude, dark, viscous substance... it evokes feelings of constraint and hidden horror. Curator: Waitzkin, often overlooked in postmodern art narratives, engaged with trauma, memory, and power dynamics, frequently using the book as a central metaphor. Her use of mixed media, as we see here, becomes an act of both creation and destruction, a grappling with complex themes of identity and historical violence. Editor: You know, knowing that it relates to the Holocaust does help contextualize its symbolism a lot. The seemingly trapped portraits behind that viscous shape remind me a bit of victims trying to crawl through the wreckage. And yet, abstracting the Holocaust in this way – what statements can be drawn about this era or any others? Curator: That's the Postmodern aesthetic coming through. This abstraction allows Waitzkin to sidestep the trap of representation, and sidestep what many may consider “Holocaust kitsch”, and instead create an environment where the viewer is forced to confront the unbearable aspects of history in an emotionally direct way. I read the "little" in the title to address the incommensurability of an event so horrible with artistic representation. The small size is more haunting. Editor: It feels incredibly charged with both grief and anger, now you point that out. I hadn’t noticed, initially, the translucent faces that it partly obscures, partly reveals…It demands we grapple with history's shadows. It is a chillingly effective piece, if unnerving to spend long staring at. Curator: Indeed. Waitzkin’s art encourages a critical dialogue about how we remember, represent, and ultimately, confront the uncomfortable aspects of our shared past, revealing how it profoundly impacts our present. Editor: Right. "Little" Shoah stays with you long after you've moved on to other pieces. And not in an entirely pleasant way. Curator: But isn't that a sign of its strength, of how potent her chosen materials are? It avoids being didactic, opting instead to remain as an unforgettable emblem, as testimony, even if quietly stated.