As well as being a beautiful painting, Sam Bak’s “Brushwork” contains a vast array of his iconic and symbolic images. There are shabbat candles, a chuppah, the Hebrew letter aleph, hammer and nails, pieces of trees, a painting within a painting, a person and a wooden representation of a person, a protractor and scenic arrangement reminiscent of “Melencolia” by Albrecht Dürer (one of Sam’s favorite artists). Absent from this painting are smokestacks, ships on dry land or more direct allusions to the holocaust. It is composition and juxtaposition which create the interpretive tension in this painting.
On the right side of the painting, there is the chuppah, symbol of marriage, a new home, or as one source states, “The chuppah reminds bride and groom that they are protected by God alone and that God is their only haven and support.” Does that over-sized hammer beneath the chuppah represent god, a force with the power to repair or destroy? Additionally, beneath the chuppah is an apparent painter, however, his canvas is reversed and there are nails driven through it in a destructive fashion.
In front of the canvas is a suitcase or paint box with straps forming an “X” and sitting atop are two pieces of a tree (one with a sprout) nailed together. Is this an odd family portrait? Is the nail helping or harming them? The foreground of the painting contains paint brushes, a protractor and the general pattern reminiscent of Dϋrer’s “Melencolia”. This reference knowingly heightens the enigmatic interpretation of this man in his world.
Behind the canvas is a wooden figure apparently nailed to a board and perhaps carrying a large log or portion of a tree creating at least a vague reference to a christ figure. In close proximity to the figure’s right lower arm a ribbon-like structure drapes over several structures to form the Hebrew letter “aleph”, believed in Jewish mysticism to represent the oneness of god. Due to point of origin, could this ribbon also be an unwound tefillin on the usually dominant (therefore, inappropriate) arm? This an image of religious irony Sam has painted on other occasions.
The left side of the painting contains two unusual candles which have evidence of wax but look more like wood (trees) or even becoming stone. These candles/trees are in sections which in Sam’s visual language can represent individuals or collectively families. Given the presentation of these two images, is the family gone? There is a tiny poof of smoke, but certainly no significant flame, on the one visible candle wick and a nail through the other candle. The light of shabbat seems awfully dim!
Taken all together this painting represents a deeply personal dive into the man-god relationship. It again posits the most basic question: Does god create man or does man create god. If the former, how does one justify the world as presented by Sam Bak? If the latter, we need to do a better job. In this visual trial, Sam has presented you with poignant images, now you decide.
Dr. Carl M. Herbert (Guest Writer)
BAK a Day, June 12, 2022
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