Baruch Spinoza enabled Jews to analytically approach Judaic texts. His genius was a practice of close reading and parsing meaning rather than accepting the texts as facts. Through his rigorous analysis, Spinoza opened the door for modern Judaism, including Conservative and Reform interpretations, and most importantly for me, allowing women to undertake study of Torah and text.

In this spirit, I have interpreted seven psalms which symbolize the cycle of life. Starting from the top right and moving in a counterclockwise direction, Psalm 104: Beginning, God’s creation of a wonderous earth rich in water and fruit; Psalm18: Hope, as God helps those that believe and have “Clean Hands” ; Psalm 6: Fear Asking for God’s Mercy as one goes through hardship; Psalm 45: Gratitude in God’s greatness and abundance; Psalm 12: Evil of Man and the suffering it causes; Psalm 92 Peace of Shabat and the promise of vigorous life; Psalm 131; Humility and the need to stay modest in our aspirations.

Gabriella Boros has shown her prints, paintings and multimedia works nationally and internationally. Currently focusing on woodblock prints and handmade books, Gabriella also paints in acrylic on wood panel, and creates drawings, sculptures and found-object cheeseboxes. Born in Israel, Gabriella immigrated to the United States as a child. Her narratives reflect her European parentage, Israeli childhood and American influences. She has a BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art. She currently lives and works in Skokie, Illinois.

Gabriella will be the artist in residence at the Bernheim Arboretum in 2020, their 40^th anniversary year. Additionally, in 2019 Gabriella will have a solo show at Galleri Allergi in Stockholm, Sweden, and will show her series Requiem at the Northern Illinois University Whitney Gallery with the Jewish Artist Collective: Chicago. Her show of botanic prints, “Healing Plants” just closed in March, at the Brushwood Arts Center in Riverwoods, Illinois. In 2018, Gabriella was chosen for a residency at Grand Marais Artist Colony in Minnesota for which she received an Illinois Arts Council Grant. She created eight narratives about plants used by the Ojibwa Band for women’s health issues.

In 2017, her prints appeared at the Jerusalem Biennale and Derfner Judaica Museum in Riverdale, the Jewish Art Salon. In 2016, Gabriella was chosen to participate in a year-long Midwest Jewish Artists Lab which culminated in 10 prints, based on the prophecies of Isaiah, shown at the Spertus Museum. In 2015, Gabriella completed her handmade/handprinted book Esh: Fire in Judaism, which was purchased by the Special Collections of the University of Michigan Libraries in 2016. She had two solo shows in 2014, one of them in conjunction with a staging of a play based on her paintings. She also had two prints hanging at the International Court of Luxembourg. In 2013, she was commissioned to show in “Biblical Dreams” at the Sabes Gallery in Minneapolis, and “Artistically Irrational” in Durham, North Carolina. Her feminist piece, “Little Red” was shown in Croatia in 2010.