Portrait Pebbles was created by Dr. Alexandra Karl. She grew up in Canada, where she received a BFA from the University of Ottawa. After completing graduate studies in Germany and England, she lived in the American West (Utah) for twenty years where she conceived and developed Portrait Pebbles. In 2021, she returned to the Toronto-area where she will bring the project to Southern Ontario.

Alexandra's grandmother Frida (Fig. #4) was the 13th child of Leni and Farkas Izaak (Fig. #1). The Izaaks were Hungarian Jews who lived in Cluj (then Hungary, now Romania). By the time Hitler started deporting Jews, most of Frida's older siblings had married and had children (Fig. #2). Some even had grandchildren. By 1944, there were 85 people in the family, including spouses, children and grandchildren. 15 survived. Most are gathered in the first family reunion photograph, taken in a Budapest apartment, from 195o (Fig. #3). The birth and death dates of lost family members are documented in the Yad Vashem database in Jerusalem. Some had not yet reached their first birthday.  

Fig. 1. The Izaak family, in Cluj ca. 1911. Gathered are the two parents (#1,2) with their 13 children. Frida is a toddler in the front row (#6).

Fig. 2. Frida and Alexander Karl ca.1939, with their only son Gabriel.

Fig. 3. Survivors gather for the first family reunion in Budapest, ca. 1950. Gabriel and Frida Karl are standing in the back row, 3rd and 4th from left.

Fig.4. Frida Karl (neé Izaak) in Toronto, 1995.

© 2023 Alexandra Karl