In movies, the first thing a character does when waking up in unfamiliar circumstances is reorient themselves. They generally look up, around, or at their hands. It's a moment of self-recognition and awareness and a step to regaining control. The act of waking and recovering autonomy is a good metaphor for recognizing differences between an individual and their community. It is simultaneously realizing that the circumstances and body that one was born in have not existed to serve a character's purpose, but can be reclaimed to do so. This work captures a moment of critical re-evaluation and disagreement shared by the artist and Spinoza, featuring details from Spinoza's bedroom in the Hague (where he died) and his study in Rijnsburg. The work is chronological and reads from right to left, like Hebrew, the only language that the artist and Spinoza have in common.

A special thank you to the Association Het Spinozahuis for so generously sharing photographs for use in this painting, and an even special-er thank you to Yona Verwer who continuously makes everything possible.

Goldie Gross is a Brooklyn born & bred artist, curator, and jewelry-maker. She is working on several bodies of work, including a series on the veil of ignorance with Sara Mochkin, an ongoing series of portraits of strangers, and bits and pieces on how we tend to deify people and things.

She has curated The Invisible Jew and Natural Instincts for the Jewish Art Salon, and co-curated POW!!! Jewish Comic Art and Influence and Convivio: Jews, Hispanics, and the Comics. She recently curatorially assisted Jewish Art Salon’s Spinoza, Marrano of Reason in Amsterdam, NL, and she curated the first and second annual Sukkahwood. She co-produced the Jewish Art Salon’s exhibition Jerusalem Between Heaven And Earth at the Jerusalem Biennale 2017, curated by Ori Z. Soltes.

She likes to play with blowtorches and precious metals in her spare time.