Judaica
Willa makes ceramic sculptures that reinterpret Jewish ritual objects, including the spicebox, torah pointer, wedding ring house, Miriam’s cup, tzedakah box and etrog container.
Eternal Flame Torah Pointer - Permanent Collection, Havurah Shalom Synagogue, Portland, Oregon
Water-Pitcher-Torah-Pointer
Tree House Spicebox
Tzedakah Box
House Wedding Ring
House Wedding Ring - Close-up
Miriam's Cup
Fantastic Creature Spice Box
Woman Steeple Spicebox
Pomegranate Cup
Etrog Container—Collection of Becca Barkin & Ron Sharrin
Miriam Cup
Willa’s "Miriam Cup" is in the permanent collection of the Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education and is currently on display.
Gift of Women’s Division of Jewish Federation of Greater Portland 1999.2.6.
Exhibitions in which her ritual objects were or are on display:
Eternal Flame Torah Pointer - Permanent Collection, Havurah Shalom Synagogue
Objects of the Sacred & Profane - Gallery 114
More Objects of the Sacred & Profane - Guardino Gallery
Manifestations of the Divine - OJMCHE
Ritual Unmoored
Willa curated and participated in RITUAL UNMOORED: Six Jewish Ceramists, who fashion vessels, abstract or figurative sculptures, and wall pieces, to reimagine the ritual object, and other traditional forms for the future. Works were exhibited at the PSU, Broadway Gallery, March 22 - September 15, 2017, in conjunction with NCECA's (National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts) National Conference held in Portland, March 22 -25, 2017.
"It was a pleasure to discover the diverse and unique work of the other Ritual Unmoored ceramists, and to become familiar with the practices and rituals that inform their form-making. I conceptualized this exhibit to explore how identity is shaped by place, cultural heritage, spirituality, or lack thereof. What does it mean to define oneself as a Jewish artist who chooses to work in clay in today’s zeitgeist?"
