Untitled

“My practice is an ongoing expression of my personal journey with spirituality. In these photographs, I’ve documented ritualized performance art where I crafted artworks with the intention of them being understood as artifacts of the metaphysical soul. I draw from the mystical liturgy of Jewish thought and tradition as I grapple with the constant disbalance of the spiritual and material sides in the body and the world. Gazella is an embodiment of a purely spiritual version of myself. Gazella, my great grandmother’s name, is a free version of myself: the truer form of me, while I am only a manifestation of her. The papier-mâché sculpture of a broken Soul Shell Backpack is a crafted artifact whose purpose once was to enclose the energy of the soul. Art for me is another form of spiritual experience, especially in the form of performance art where for a moment I become reduced to artwork in an instant of union between real and imaginary. In my performances around the Dead Sea, I tried to transfer my energy across the artwork before abandoning it at the lowest point on earth. Through the backdrops of sea and desert, I explore the origins of hope and vitality in the longing for human connection and the shards of disillusionment we try to heal with hope.”

Born in 2000 in New York, artist Gabrielle Shira Broome depicts her inner world of soul imagery as her painted, sculptural artworks become activated through interactions with the body to be understood as artifacts from metaphysical realms. After graduating high school, she moved to Jerusalem to explore spirituality within art, hiking in the desert, and kabbalistic study. She works in acrylic, papier-mâché, and ceramics, fusing performance art and video in multidisciplinary exploration to deal with dichotomies like searching, wholesomeness, and longing. She is currently based in Los Angeles studying art at USC Roski with a minor in religion.