The meaning of fragment (verb) is to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly. The Third Reich in Germany fragmented the Jewish society before and during World War II. The persecution of Jews during this time was horrific. Jews were humiliated, harassed, and segregated during the Nazi period just for being Jewish. Families were separated and sent to concentration camps for extermination.

Four photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress are utilized for this project. They were made at the concentration and death-camp complex at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Three images show families arriving at the ramps, and the fourth image shows children who survived the ordeal during liberation.

The crux of the project is to accentuate the fragmentation process of the Jewish people, but at the same time celebrate their existence through Geometric Abstraction based on the use of geometric forms placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. The repetitive nature of the geometric forms in each piece is indicative of the multitudes of Jewish people who lost their lives due to ethnic cleansing.

What is interesting about the project in exhibition form is when the pieces are viewed from afar, the individuals are clearly seen as a collective group, but when viewed up close per piece, the fragmentation process becomes apparent revealing the Geometric Abstraction. To better understand this, click on the images above, and then click again.