Visual Artpieces

"Hineni" Bee Kanofsky, 2026.

Paint, tufted rug, wood, metal hinges.

Commisioned for the Jewish Prayer Room, Bard College.

The project "Hineni" is an ark of sorts. It is inspired by a tufted work from a synagogue I attended, Temple Covenant of Peace,  before it was absorbed into a neighboring synagogue. The piece I made is about the Jewish Diaspora, with nods to my families roots in the countries of Syria, Ukraine, and Russia; while also bringing in other countries where Jewish people sought safety as refugees such as China, Columbia, and Japan while also including countries of origin for them such as Israel,  and Ethiopia. The front of the piece has the eyes of God watching over the twelve flowers, or the twelve tribes of Israel, have their seeds/people scattered to the wind, and all the corners of the earth.

"Claimed: History in a Travelling Box" Bee Kanofsky, 2025.

An Old Suitcase, bounded scripts, history magazine snippets, toy blocks, a homemade tricorn hat, an accordian story of Harriet Tubman and Abraham Lincoln (made around 2013 by Bee), quill, presidential Matroshka doll (JFK, Lincoln, Washington, et others), faux and real Revolutionary War era artifacts.

Made for Senior Literary Arts Project, Lehigh Valley Charter Highschool for the Arts.

The project "Claimed: History in a Travelling Box" is a physical manifestitation of Bee Kanofsky's love of history. They carry it around, the stories and the figures that they hold dear, as if they were stories in a suitcase. They carry that suitcase around, metaphorically and in this project very literally, so others may learn the histories they've learned and hopefully carry it on to other people. Think of it as a revolutionary war cabinet of curiosities, made by Bee to be immersive and engaging for an audience who's unfamiliar with the war, its themes, or the figures that shaped it directly and indirectly. The collages that Bee included in the piece echo this being made from 1970s history magazines pertaining to the Revolutionary War, taking inspiration from artists like Basquiat, Wendy Redstar, and others that they have consumed art from. This is a project of Bee's love for history, community, and storytelling.