The “Stars of David Project” offers a tribute to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Each hand-drawn, carefully placed star represents a life cut short by the Nazi regime. Between 1933 and 1945, the Jewish community of Europe lost two-thirds of its total population, changing the Jewish diaspora forever.  The “Stars of David Project” invites viewers to take a moment to remember the victims, including the documented stories we know and those that have been lost.

This project began in the spring of 2023 after learning that my 2nd great-grandmother died in the Holocaust at the Lodz Ghetto from starvation. I started thinking of the tremendous human toll of the Holocaust and the generational effect it has had on the Jewish community.  A trip to Yad Vashem with my son cemented the Jewish idea that destroying a single life is to have destroyed an entire world. I began visualizing the universe, with so many stars that it is impossible to count or comprehend; this is how I wanted to show the impact of the Holocaust visually. The project took shape in the aftermath of October 7, 2023, when antisemitism began to re-emerge as anti-zionism. I saw the parallels of anti-semitism and blaming Jews for the world's issues.  This strengthened my resolve to take on this massive project.

At the core of the project is a simple symbol: the Star of David—a symbol of Jewish identity, faith, and resilience. The Star of David, or Magen David, is the universal symbol of the Jewish people and the state of Israel. The star signifies our connection to the community and the lens through which we see the world. I use it as a building block, not just as a motif, but as a way to represent individual lives. The blue or darker Stars of David represent the vastness of loss, the weight of mourning. But slowly, sheet by sheet, a wave of yellow stars begins to emerge. It moves across the work like a current. These yellow stars are not just a reference to the badges Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust. Here, they carry a different meaning. In this wave, each yellow star is a life we remember. They rise from the sea of blue as if to say, “I was here. I mattered.” They are the stories that call out to be known. These yellow stars shine as acts of remembrance. Each one is a whisper of a name, a memory pulled back from the void through our collective memory. The wave is not just symbolic of persecution; it’s also symbolic of presence. These are the lives we will not let disappear. The yellow does not mark shame here; it marks honor. It reclaims what was meant to dehumanize and makes it sacred instead.

I hope that this work creates space: for reflection, for conversation, for connection, for future generations.  It’s about memory, but also about the responsibility we have to tell the story. Because remembering isn’t passive, it’s something we do actively. 

My process includes carefully drawing every star, remembering that each represents a life taken during the Shoah. Using paint pens on 11x17 sheets of Bristol board, I draw 20,000 Stars of David per sheet, meticulously counting each star and each life. I painstakingly count each star to ensure accuracy. Before beginning a new sheet, I say the Mourner’s Kaddish to remember the people who perished. The exhibit includes 300 11x17, totaling six million when exhibited together. The scale of this project is part of the message. When you see the sheets all together, the effect is overwhelming. And that’s intentional. I want people to feel the enormity of what was lost.