Lawrence Strauss

Green Vase

Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase

oil on canvas

14.5″ x 18″

2025

$500

Two colorful horses, based on ancient Syrian Jewish art, surround the green vase, like the lions that protect the ten commandments in synagogue imagery. Below, fish, like congregants, honor the large, empty vessel — looking for connection to the divine in something so earthy. The small painting holds reverberations of the past considered through a contemporary lens, seeking to understand through turning things over, observing and contemplating.

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Lawrence Strauss

The Wind on the Mouth of the Vase in the Tree

oil on paper

5″ x 5.5″

2024

$380

The world’s oldest synagogue has a visual language that stands in bald contrast to the texts from the same period in the same region. The images lack contemporary interpretation and so render Judaism unfamiliar. My picture recasts this oldest synagogue imagery to give a new chance to meet the ancient challenge to convention.

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