Panel I — “October 7” 2025
One shows the atrocity of October 7. These forms evoke fire — not literal flames, but the burning memory of violence and loss.
Artist Statement
The panel is conceived as testimony. Using natural veneers sourced from across the world, it preserves memory in a slow, patient medium. The figures move through flame-like fields: grief, shock, motion — a record of a day that changed the world.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
October 7 a marquetry panel by Michael Farro — responds to the atrocities of October 7 its flame-like shapes are not literal fire, but the burning memory of violence.
Panel II — “October 7 another implementation” 2025
Second panel of October 7.
Artist Statement
This is my second attempt to present October 7.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
October 7 a marquetry panel by Michael Farro — responds to the atrocities of October 7 its flame-like shapes are not literal fire, but the burning memory of violence.
Panel III — “War” 2025
The universal suffering that followed. A father lies fallen; a child kneels beside him. Problems cannot be solved through killing or humiliation — they only return in terrible ways.
Artist Statement
This panel holds fear, loss, and the fragile thread of care. Each piece of wood is a voice — together they speak for shared humanity.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
In War, Farro shows the intimate devastation of war.
My First Exhibition
A moment from my exhibition, with visitors observing my marquetry panels on the wall. This image captures the atmosphere and engagement that made this show meaningful.
About this photo
Here I am sharing a snapshot from my Jookender exhibition presentation, including viewers engaging with the works shown on the wall. It reflects the public reception and supports the context of my artistic journey.
Panel IV — “Yom Kippur in Warsaw ghetto 1939” 2024
This panel is based on Karl Knaths’s Day of Atonement (1938–40), a work by the American modernist painter known for integrating Cubist structure with expressive, human subject matter. Knaths’s composition transforms observed reality into an architecture of planes and forms that convey emotional intensity while remaining rooted in recognizable figures and narrative elements. Knaths’s Day of Atonement engages with weighty themes of moral reckoning and existential struggle, using abstracted geometry and tension between figures to evoke reflection on human suffering and resilience. Although deeply personal, its visual language invites broad contemplation of conflict, loss, and the search for spiritual or ethical meaning — qualities that resonate beyond its historical moment.. Although this panel is not an original work, I was so deeply moved by Knaths’s original painting that I could not resist creating my own marquetry response to it. Original work is part of Boston MFA Collection
Artist Statement
This panel expresses my deeply personal response to the fate of the Jewish people during World War II, when many of my relatives on both my mother’s and my father’s sides were killed.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
In Yom Kippur in Warsaw ghetto 1939, Farro's marquetry presentation of Karl Knaths’s Day of Atonement
Panel V — “Conversation” 2025
A visual interpretation of a profound religious conversation — the interplay of faith, reflection, and shared understanding expressed through form, gesture, and the natural character of wood.
Artist Statement
*Conversation* captures an encounter that is at once human and spiritual. Each piece of veneer is placed to suggest not only figure and space, but also the dynamic exchange of ideas and belief. The work considers how dialogue shapes faith and connects individuals within a shared tradition.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
In Conversation, Farro explores the nuances of religious dialogue — its tensions, harmonies, and the quiet power of mutual engagement.
Panel VI — “Dancers” 2025
An exploration of motion and rhythm captured in wood — figures woven together in abstracted form to evoke the energy of human movement and connection.
Artist Statement
*Dancers* reflects my interest in expressing dynamic interaction through geometric form and the natural character of different veneers. Each piece contributes to the overall momentum, capturing a sense of shared rhythm and presence.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
In Dancers, Farro synthesizes form and movement, using contrasting wood textures to evoke the energy and cadence of human motion as a unified ensemble.
Panel — “Caprice No. 24” 2025
A lyrical homage to musical energy and expression — the violinist’s posture and the radiating facets of wood carry the intensity and nuance of performance in a visual rhythm of shape and grain.
Artist Statement
*Caprice No. 24* interprets the vitality and expressive unpredictability of musical improvisation through wood veneer. Each fragment of wood contributes its tone and direction to evoke not only the figure of the musician but also the dynamic momentum of sound and emotion.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
In Caprice No. 24, Farro celebrates the interplay of musical spirit and form, using intersecting planes of wood to suggest both motion and melody in a tactile, visual medium.
Panel — “Homeless” January 2026
A figure lies unseen beneath a familiar marketplace, while others pass through light without stopping.
Artist Statement
In Homeless, a collapsed figure lies unnoticed beneath the sign of a familiar marketplace. Passersby move through a pool of light, their silhouettes intact, their paths uninterrupted. The scene is quiet, almost ordinary — and that ordinariness is its weight. The panel does not depict an extraordinary moment, but a daily one: suffering that has become part of the background. The word HELP, held loosely in the figure’s hand, is present yet unanswered, while the surrounding architecture remains solid, warm, and well-lit. Created entirely from natural wood veneer, the work uses subtle shifts in grain, tone, and geometry to contrast vulnerability and indifference. The materials themselves — warm, durable, enduring — stand in tension with the fragility of the human body they depict. Homeless invites the viewer to pause and notice what is usually passed by: a human presence reduced to a shadow at the edge of communal life.
Press materials
Press release (excerpt)
In Homeless, Michael Farro turns his attention to a form of suffering so familiar it is often no longer seen. A collapsed figure lies beneath the sign of a public marketplace, while passersby move through light and structure without interruption. The scene depicts no dramatic event — only an ordinary moment in which vulnerability exists alongside indifference. Formed entirely from natural wood veneer, the panel asks the viewer to pause and notice what daily life teaches us to overlook.
Art About the Holocaust
Official invitation for Art About the Holocaust, a group exhibition and film screening held at Centre Makor in observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. My marquetry work was presented alongside photography, graphic art, and film addressing memory, history, and survival.
About this exhibition
This exhibition brought together artists working across different media to reflect on the Holocaust and its enduring presence in personal and collective memory. My contribution consisted of narrative marquetry panels, using wood veneer as a material of permanence, fragility, and remembrance.
The event included a screening of the documentary The Lost Brothers, Israel and was presented as part of Centre Makor’s Holocaust Remembrance Day programming.