Challah

2018
cast brass
long: 2 x 6 x 13 inches
round: 2½ x 9 x 9 inches


I learned to bake challah for my partner and his family. In Jewish faith, long braided challah symbolizes family, love, and home, because the strands look like arms intertwined. A round challah is eaten on Rosh Hashanah to celebrate the cycle of a year coming to a close, and a new cycle beginning. This linked loop version represents strength, togetherness, and continuity.

I wanted to build mini-monuments to the importance of family, unity, and love. For these objects, I baked challot from scratch, took molds of them, cast them in solid brass, and coated them in rose gold. I wanted them to be heavy and precious. The long loaf weighs 25 lbs and the round loaf weighs 31 lbs. The lighter, yellower color in the cracks would normally be considered a PVD/plating flaw (if it were on a something like a faucet), but I actually wanted that variation because it makes it look more like bread.

These were created at the Kohler Co. factory during Arts/Industry, a residency program of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. 

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photos courtesy of Arts/Industry