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April 9, 1999/23 Nisan 5759, Vol. 51, No. 28
Artist portrays 'Crypto-Jews,' history in paintings
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
On an average day, Diana Bryer wanders into the living room of her New Mexico home and thinks about a time more than 500 years ago. She then dips a brush into colorful oil paints and recreates history on a linen canvas.
Bryer, 56, paints the stories of 15th century Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. Her art depicts the lives of Jews in Spain and Portugal who were forced to choose between conversion to Christianity, expulsion or death. The descendants of those who converted (or pretended to convert) are known today as Conversos, Crypto-Jews or Anusim.
Many of the Anusim later left Spain for remote areas in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Pockets of Anusim remain scattered across these areas, and many still practice traditional Sephardic ways of life, Bryer says.
"When I moved to New Mexico, I was so fascinated by the people," Bryer explains. "The Native American and Hispanic people have so many stories and legends, and the culture is interesting, that it provides me with so much inspiration with which to paint."
Bryer will display "Hidden Jews Lighting Candles for Centuries," a collection of her work, through a slide show, when she visits the Brandeis University National Women's Committee in Phoenix on Thursday, April 15. She will also discuss her fascination with the Anusim of the Southwest who practice ancient Jewish rituals because "this is what they saw their grandmothers doing," Bryer says.
A self-taught artist, Bryer grew up in Culver City, Calif. As a child she enjoyed molding colored clay into "entire worlds, people, animals and dragons," she says.
"My mother didn't think it was a good idea to give me art lessons because she thought it would spoil my creativity. But whatever (art tools) I asked for, she would get them for me," she says.
While still in elementary school, Bryer would make earrings and pins out of clay and sell them to her classmates for 50 cents.
At age 12, she entered an art show in Los Angeles with a seed mosaic she had created, for which she won an honorable mention. An art gallery in Westwood, Calif., discovered her talent at that show and started selling her work.
When Bryer grew out of her clay and mosaic phase, she turned to painting, particularly with oils and mixed media. She initially focused on portraits and fantasy art.
Then in 1977, Bryer moved to Espanola Valley, N.M., a small village on the outskirts of Santa Cruz, where she raised her three children.
"I started to really learn about where I was living," she says. "I felt this presence here, this beautiful spirituality. ... Also, the people here help each other out, and families are very close. This is something I had not seen in California. It really touched my heart."
The aura of closeness and spirituality prompted her to paint about families getting together for holidays, weddings and funerals. Examples are works such as "Fiddler on the Adobe," which depicts a fiddler standing on the rooftop of a Southwestern home in the desert at night; and "Sarita's Wedding" of a young couple united under a chuppah (wedding canopy) with a Spanish rabbi, guitarist and fiddler, in the midst of the desert.
Bryer says she recently discovered that she, too, may have Spanish ancestors.
"My family comes from Romania and Lithuania, and a lot of (Spanish) Jews who didn't come here or go to the Ottoman Empire (former Turkish sultanate in Southeastern Europe), went to Eastern Europe and assimilated into the Ashkinazic culture," she explains. "Then they dropped their Sephardic roots and began speaking Yiddish. A (relative) of mine told me my family name was once Mendez."
Most of Bryer's current paintings have obvious Jewish themes, she says. "Ancient Ways" (oil on linen) is one of those paintings. It shows three generations of Jewish women praying over Shabbat candles. In the background is a dark shadow that symbolizes the memory of the old ways in Spain or Portugal. The border of the piece is decorated with Stars of David and blue crescent-shaped moons, which symbolize the ability to practice Judaism freely in the Ottoman Empire.
Another painting, "Secret Prayers" (oil on linen), shows a family of seven praying in a field. The men and boys are wearing yarmulkes, and one man is reading from what appears to be a prayer book. Dreidels, menorahs, Torah scrolls and Stars of David are drawn into the border.
What's sad, Bryer says, is that "most people who live (in the Southwest) don't understand the historical message of (my paintings). The Catholic Church is even denying the whole thing ever happened. They don't believe there are any secret Jews or that many (Spanish Catholics) actually have Jewish roots. There are people coming out and saying this is all a lie."
These doubts and misperceptions have not affected her works' marketability, though, she says.
"My art will continue," she says. "Since I've lived in New Mexico, I've had a lot of ideas. It's like some kind of spirit comes down and says to me, 'Now you have to paint this,' and I do."
Displayed in galleries and museums around the country, including the Tucson Historical Museum in Arizona, Bryer's paintings range in price from $800 to $25,000. A designing company produces reprints of her paintings on gift cards and posters. Those interested in purchasing an original piece may also do so when Bryer comes to town. Bryer's website is found at www.dianabryer.com.
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