Artist's Corner: Kremena Dimitrova - Blogpost 3

Follow Kremena's journey into the 50 Jewish Objects in this third blogpost.

When reading about the Sefer Mitzvot Qatan (Semaq) or “The Small Book of Commandments”, I discovered some interesting information which captured my attention. The little that is known about the manuscript indicates that Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil divided the precepts of the manuscript into seven “Pillars”. The seven pillars corresponded to the seven days of the week. Isaac intended for the work to be read through every day of the week. In line with Isaac’s concept, I also decided that my creative response to the manuscript will unfold over seven comic strips pillars (panels) telling the (hi)story of Isaac and his manuscript (as an artefact and its creation) for audiences to enjoy every day of the week. 

Below are some of my initial sketches and thoughts on how the seven pillars might look like; interrelated/ interconnected, but non-linear.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, the idea is for each comic strip pillar to act and work on its own, as a separate entity, and to also contribute to the overall narrative of the rest of the comic strips pillars. They can be arranged and rearranged in various sequences and read in different directions (see sketches 1,2 and 3) and, therefore, offer no right or wrong way of reading and no prescribed beginning and end – almost like a game. 

As a children’s illustrator, and having previously worked on several children’s books publications, I believe younger audiences will particularly enjoy engaging with and playing with the comic strips pillars. At the same time, by employing a comic strips format to visually respond to and reimagine the manuscript, my hope is to attract adult audiences too. For example, because comics and graphic narratives employ words and images, they are known to attract audiences of various ages and interests – both those who enjoy reading and those who enjoy pictures.