Artist Siona Benjamin Brings Hindu and Muslim Motifs to Portrayals of Judaism

JEWISH TELEGRAPH AGENCY
By Chavie Lieber

Finding Home No. 46 "Tikkun ha-Olam" -- (2000)

NEW JERSEY --- In the space of a single painting, Siona Benjamin juxtaposes feminism, Indian mythology and Jewish imagery. On a three-foot canvas, she’ll paint a portrait of a blue-skinned figure, usually a character from the Bible, with nods to Persian miniatures, Talmudic fables and Vishnu gods. “I want people to realize there can be a universal message in Jewish art,” Benjamin told JTA. Her favored subjects are biblical outcasts, and she aims to redeem them by presenting an alternative narrative. [link]

"If you look at biblical characters, there are deeper stories than what meets the eye. And I paint them blue because I’m redeeming myself through them, too.”