WOMEN, POGROMS, LOVE

Art Exhibition Wednesday 29 October - Saturday 8 November 2025

Wendy’s exhibition extends across time & place. Artworks created over many years in response to violence against women, & works created in 2024 honouring the memory of her great-aunt, Sarah Chaya Krikst, raped & murdered in the pogroms of 1917-1921, Lithuania. Included in the exhibition is a portrait Wendy painted in 2023 of Francine Lazarus OAM, writer of “A Hidden Jewish Child from Belgium”, survivor of the Holocaust, whose life of witness & resilience teaches us healing & love.

In 2025 Wendy looks for a message of hope in the Darkness. She remembers Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem”.

"Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in"

Wendy began a series of canvases greeting light. Love.

Sylvia Hrovatin has graciously agreed to open the exhibition on Sunday afternoon, 2nd November, 3 pm. Sylvia has a remarkable ability to communicate complex ideas, & her broad knowledge of history, politics, people & the creative arts will bring a rare & compelling perspective to Wendy’s artworks.

Royce Isacowitz will play covers & original compositions. Acoustic guitar, voice & harmonica.

I very much appreciate this wonderful write-up by Henry Benjamin, owner and journalist at J-Wire https://www.jwire.com.au/women-pogroms-love/

Where: 7 Clovelly Rd, Randwick NSW 2031

Come and stand in this space of grief, memory & love.

If you love an artwork, take it with you & hang it on your wall for a while at no charge*. No works will be for sale. *Love comes with clauses. *See terms & conditions.

May Her Memory Be A Blessing

This painting is me imagining Sarah Chaya Krikst (1901-1918) in "shamayim", heaven. Although she is enveloped in light and peace, she sits amongst the other tens of thousands of Jewish women murdered in the pogroms. The red blotches signify blood, the murdered bodies are black. Chaya means "of light and love" in Yiddish, and I am hoping that the feeling of light and love, her presence painted in white, dims the darkness of murder and blood. I'm trying to make meaning from the sorrow of our loss. "May Her Memory Be A Blessing". To say this is a traditional Jewish way to honour and remember a person who has passed away.

2025 60cm x 60 cm Acrylic On Canvas

The video above features 26 paintings created in memory of Sarah Chaya Krikst (1901-1918). Music by CHUTNEY “Odessa Bulgarish”.

Self Portrait with my Bubbee Ethel & her sister Sarah Chaya. Silence was their language.

Femicide, the killing of a woman or girl, in particular by a man. STOP.

L O V E

I love people, well, most people … some people, so my paintings of love will have to be about people, lots of people. Some people. Love 1, 2025. Acrylic on Canvas 50cm x 50cm.

L O V E

Acrylic on Canvas 30cm x 30cm.

L O V E

Acrylic on Canvas 50cm x 50cm.

And Then It Was The Turn Of The Cossacks 2025

60cm x 60cm Acrylic on Canvas

LOVE

These are 25 of the 31 LOVE paintings I will be showing at my exhibition. I did not find it easy to create these paintings, even though they are 30cm x 30cm, not much bigger than an A4 sheet of paper. For those who know me, the past few years have been difficult, & creating light bright paintings did not come easily.