Instruction:
ֿYaara Perry, Shira Shoval

A line of seven headscarves commemorating my great-grandmother, Ilona. The headscarves are hand drawn and printed using various techniques.

This project was created from a desire to visually commemorate stories of my great-grandmother. Ilona was a hero, a survivor who fought the Nazis and protected her family in Budapest during World War II. At age 21 she participated in the 2nd Maccabiah Games, representing Czechoslovakia in swimming and track and field. There she met her husband, a wrestler from the Hungarian delegation. They married in Israel and returned to Hungary at the outbreak of World War II. Her daring life is an inspiration, reminiscent of a victory goddess or superhero. The imagery on the headscarves incorporates the figure of Ilona into a system of iconography from different cultural sources: Judaism, Zionism, Christianity, and Greek mythology.

Materials: gouache, colored pencils, pens, paper, reactive dyes, silk fabrics, mixed silks

Techniques: hand drawing, linoleum printing, digital printing, screen printing using a linoleum surface and wood carving knives