identity | Just Tolkoff

Tu B’Shvat 2015

Happy Festival of Trees! I created this tree of life while working on the Margin project. The tree of life is what forms the root of our lives – the energy, the grounding, mother nature, nurture…I could go on and on. The winding road takes you about half way through the psycho spiritual Jewish journey of becoming an adult and part of a community.

February 4, 2015 at 9:00 am Leave a comment

Culture Lab // Margin show

Saturday evening was the first performance of Culture Lab //Margins. After working non-stop for a week and with help, I was able to finish the mural. The performance went beautifully – dance, sculpture, storytelling, mural. Wow. My friend Andrea Taylor took these pictures. We have another performance this coming Saturday so stop by if you are in the neighborhood. Many thanks to all who helped color in the mural or helped me find the help and cudos to the other artists. Thank you roll: Dan Friedman , Eli Rarey, Zan Romanoff, Kristen Smiarowski, Josh Friedman,Rebecca Pappas, Anne Marie Hromadka and Aaron Henne. And a special shout out to my sister-in-law Tami Morrissey for introducing me to oil based markers and acetate!

Show address: 7-11pm, Brockus Project Studios: 618 Moulton Ave, Los Angeles, California

September 15, 2014 at 3:30 pm 1 comment

Culture Lab // Margin

An art/performance piece featuring myself and 4 other artist debuting this Saturday

I was invited to participate in an ongoing project called Culture Lab that brings together small groups of artists to collaborate on a Jewish theme. Culture Lab is organized by a group called East Side Jews which was started three years ago by TV writer Jill Soloway because there was no interesting or creative Jewish activity on the East Side. The early events were like happenings – very creative, spoken word events with local writers in unusual spaces. I love their mission statement: “East Side Jews is an irreverent, upstart, non-denominational collective of Jews living in Los Angeles’ East Side. We hold monthly events at unlikely venues during unpopular holidays for Jews with confused identities.” They received a large grant last year and became a part of the Silver Lake Independent JCC with even more innovative programs.

This is the third iteration of Culture Lab. I was paired with 4 other artists to make a piece around the theme of Margin. There are 2 choreographers, 2 visual artists and one storyteller/filmmaker. I am creating an 125ft mural that wraps around the performance space. There will be dance, installation, interactive components, storytelling. You can arrive anytime between 7p-11p – it is a durational piece so everythign that is occurring (dance, interactive activity, storytelling) will continue to do so throughout that time. The show will be performed twice – this coming Sat. and next Sat. the 20th. The flyer is below plus a sneak peak of the mural in progress. If you are in LA, please stop by!