asherah cinnamon's Projects

BFA Alumni

Major: Sculpture

Graduation Year: 2008

Artist Statement:

I am interested in ending the ubiquitous practice of humans hurting other humans (individually and in whole groups) and destroying our planet. Nations repeatedly go to war, destroying people, who are treated as less than human, while the environment is poisoned for decades to come, only to then become allies with those same “enemy” nations one or two generations later. We must learn better, much sooner.
My work engages people in thinking and dialogue on these and related issues. It is also important to me that my work encourages people to stop and think, feel and enjoy....to connect with their most human selves, with the natural world, and with each other.

Biography:

Inspired by the social justice movements of the last 60 years, Ms. Cinnamon uses Jewish ritual and imagery as a basis for contemporary art, bringing attention to traditional ethical concepts, while building community with diverse groups through collaboration and public engagement. Three grandparents were murdered in Nazi Concentration camps and both her parents were survivors of the Japanese military’s Jewish Ghetto in Shanghai during WW II. A feminist since her teen years, Cinnamon’s interest in ending the oppression of all groups has been her lifelong focus.
Chosen by the Oregon Jewish Museum for its 2014 International Sukkah PDX Exhibition, her installation became the site of a public dialogue on what Jews and Muslims have in common. A 2008 recipient of the Beijing Olympic Landscape Sculpture Five Rings Award, Cinnamon, was recognized by the US Holocaust Museum’s Education Department for her anti-racism work in Tennessee, and by the New England Conference of United Methodist Churches for her Social Justice Actions. www.asherahcinnamon.com