Maia Brown’s Senior Studio Exhibition

Maia Brown’s solo exhibition took place in a refreshing new location: 166 S Pleasant Street.  Her show, titled “You Who Stand in the Doorway, Come In”, was an exploration of the sites of memory.  Her entire body of work was built around Orthodox Jewish Tefilin, which are small leather boxes worn during prayer.  These sealed boxes contain passages of the Torah which are to be remembered daily, but the small slips of paper are meant to never be seen.

Maia’s work recreated Tefilin using leather, video animation and castings out of resin.  These Tefilin burst open, over-flowing with fabric, spices and even plants.  Her many drawings which surrounded the space used Tefilin as builidng blocks of abstract city-scapes.  Maia Brown wants us to open our collective memory, even the memories that are tightly sealed away, allowing all voices and stories to be heard.

The 166 S. Pleasant St house is part of the Building Prosperity Project, a collaboration between Oberlin residents and college students to create an art and community space for the Oberlin Underground Railroad Society.

All photos in this post courtesy John Seyfried.