This panel holds 40 floral tributes to those victims taken from Israel on October 7, 2023. This work draws inspiration from the Dutch Golden Age, especially from Rachel Ruysch, one of the first celebrated woman artists of her time, known for her luminous floral still lives. As a teenager, I first encountered her work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where its beauty struck me. I realize now that I am deeply touched by how light pierced shadows and how life and decay coexisted in quiet harmony.

At the center of this panel is a small Lapid vase from Israel, holding dried blooms and cyanotypes dyed with natural pigments. Each square (3×3 inches) honors a hostage taken from Israeli soil on October 7. Gold, used throughout the piece, echoes the richness of that era while honoring those who have been taken now from the richness of Jewish Life.

This panel is both tribute and protest, a remembrance of lives interrupted, and a defense of beauty and light in the face of darkness.