BLESSINGS Ruth Mordecai | Collages & Paintings reflects Mordecai's lifelong exploration of spirituality, symbolism, and the human search for peace. Widely recognized for her powerful abstract collages and paintings and expressive visual language, Mordecai has spent decades creating work that addresses universal themes of identity, community, and the sacred. In Blessings, she turns to Jewish symbols and traditions in a deeply personal response to the recent rise in antisemitism, creating paintings that offer reflection, resilience, and hope rather than division. The exhibition features a combination of new and existing work, inspired by symbols that have become central to the artist's practice over the past twenty-five years. Among the recurring images is a life-sized feminine figure bearing a Star of David over her heart, a symbol of compassion, endurance, and peace. Richly layered with gesture, color, and spiritual references, the artworks invite viewers to contemplate both personal faith and our shared humanity.

Mordecai's exploration of Jewish imagery began in 1986 when she was commissioned to create the ark for Temple B'nai Abraham in Beverly, Massachusetts. Research for that project introduced symbols that became a lasting part of her artistic vocabulary and continue to inform her work today. "Blessings is ultimately a celebration of heritage, life, and healing," says the artist. "These paintings are prayers."

The exhibition will be accompanied by an artist talk on Friday, August 14, at 5 PM at COSMOS Gallery. A video of the presentation will also be available at  www.RuthMordecai.com.

Mordecai's work has received national recognition for its artistic and spiritual depth. Art historian Dr. Roger Lipsey, author of An Art of Our Own: The Spiritual in Twentieth Century Art, has praised her as "one of the few American artists imaginatively and technically equipped to explore the large and perennial human questions … the question of the human community and our shared symbols." Expressive arts pioneer Shaun McNiff has written, "I do not think there is anything like this body of sustained, forceful, pure, and majestic gestural work in Cape Ann art history."