Ruth Dorrit Yacoby, who passed away in November 2015 at the age of 63, left behind a rich, powerful body of work comprising of paintings, sculptures and drawings.
The work filled the "Art and Creation Center – The Woman of the Thousand Voices” - a large warehouse at the heart of the town of Arad in the Eastern Negev - from floor to ceiling.
A digital cataloguing of Yacoby’s works, funded by the Israel National Lottery, has triggered an important process of sorting, documenting, presenting, and distributing of the works of one of the most dedicated and enigmatic artists of Israel.
Yacoby’s works have been exhibited in Israel and around the world, and studied by leading figures in Israeli art.
Prof. Mordechai Omer wrote in the introduction of the exhibition catalogue of the Yacoby’s solo retrospective exhibition that he curated at the Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University (2011): “The containment of a spiritual journey of such epic dimensions requires a total, religious form of artmaking, in which painting, found objects, and various bodily actions are perceived as conductors of magical forces.”
The works in the digital catalogue have been classified both by theme and by time period of creation. Thus, one can call up on the screen a collection of the artist’s works from any given period, or alternatively a group of works from different periods that are linked together by a common theme. The catalogue makes available to the public the extensive body of work produced by the artist, while offering a significant tool for curators, researchers, and collectors.
Yacoby’s works articulate mental phenomena through archetypal symbols, as an expression of the experience of existence in the world. Her artistic approach involved accumulating works and adding to them over time, then “surrendering” them to the ravages of nature and weather. Thus, her works were never completed, but went on being produced.
With the end of her physical life, this catalogue of her works may be seen as another chapter in her spiritual journey.
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