Lenny Letter was an email newsletter published by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner from 2015 to 2018. In February of 2016, Lenny Letter published an interview between Amy Kellner and Orthodox Jewish sex therapist Bat Sheva Marcus, and invited me to create an illustration with 24 hours notice.
With my illustration, I hoped to highlight a moment in Jewish tradition that is traditionally the domain of women: the lighting of Shabbat candles. In this practice, women cover their eyes while reciting a prayer. When they open their eyes, they see the light (both spiritually and literally), and Shabbat officially begins. I placed Mrs. Marcus in the center, with eyes already uncovered to a bounty of flowers, leading fellow women to do the same.
This illustration was created with gouache and ink on paper.