Ich Bin Di Sitra Achra (I Am the Other)

The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute is proud to present “Ich Bin Di Sitra Achra (I Am the Other)” by Shterna Goldbloom. Goldbloom’s wistful photographic self-portraits bridge memories and experiences of the artist’s own Hasidic upbringing, with historical and invented personae. As the artist transforms herself in each composed image through dress, posture and setting, her photographs come together to present a singular but complicated expression of self as a queer Jewish woman.

Goldbloom reinterprets the Hasidic term “Sitra Achra,” used to describe things considered to be on the “other side” of holiness — like queers and women who don’t fit traditional definitions of femininity. In “Ich Bin Di Sitra Achra (I Am the Other),” the artist presents the many faces that can exist between tradition and heresy. Her gesture before the camera makes these conflicting identities visible, giving agency to those who might otherwise be obscured.