"The Beauty of the Hebrew Letter" by Izzy Pludwinski

The Beauty of the Hebrew Letter by Izzy Pludwinski

When I was a kid, Izzy Pludwinski was already one of the dominant figures in creative Hebrew calligraphy. I was looking up to him and his work. In a world as a narrow as the world of Hebrew calligraphy, Izzy was an important centerpoint.

So understandably, I am incredibly honoured to be included in his newest book, "The Beauty of the Hebrew Letter”, an anthology of Hebrew art, alongside works from the seventh century BC until today.

Genesis, the work below, was inspired by the central idea in Sefer Yetzirah.

Sefer Yetzirah, the oldest Jewish mystical text, describes the creation through the Hebrew letters. It teaches that God formed the universe by combining the 22 letters with the ten Sefirot. These letters are seen as the building blocks of creation, representing both sounds and spiritual energies. In one of the next newsletters I will write more about how this idea of the Hebrew letters being kind of the "atoms of creation" informs and inspires my work in general.

The text I chose for this painting is the very beginning of Genesis, the start of the first of two biblical descriptions of how the world was created.

A special thanks Edward and Judith Vays, who gave the work a home in their place in Roslyn, New York.

If you would like to purchase the book directly from Brandeis University, please click here.

Genesis, oil on canvas, 2018

Genesis, 2017, at the mansion of Edward and Judith Vays, Roslyn, New York