I created the analog watercolor in 2010, shortly after a new translation of the Zohar was published. Inspired by the text, I eagerly produced a series of works to accompany the first volume. Some of these works were featured in my solo exhibition at the Yeshiva University Museum, NY, which later traveled to the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture in Denver, CO. At the exhibition’s opening, the translator of the Zohar, Daniel C. Matt, appeared and gave a talk about the text, deepening the dialogue between the art and its source of inspiration. 137 → This number is significant because it equals the gematria of kabbalah. In physics, 137 is also the fine-structure constant, which some mystics have linked to divine design. 18 → Chai = life, the Hebrew letters chet = 8 and yud = 10 add up to 18. This makes 18 the symbolic number for life itself. In the Zohar, 18 reflects the fusion of divine emanations symbolizing the flow of life from the Infinite into the finite world. 18 signifies the pulse of divine vitality that animates creation. It’s seen as an auspicious number for renewal, blessing, and survival.
