Congregation Beth Israel’s “Friends of the Margolis Gallery” celebrates Israel’s 70th Anniversary with "Ya’ar," an exhibition curated by Anya Tish featuring multi-dimensional monoprints and large-scale installation by Israel-born, Houston-based artist Orna Feinstein.

"Ya’ar" is the Hebrew word for forest. Feinstein’s process-oriented work draws heavily from the inherent geometry found within nature, most notably trees, and the idea that each tree and its forms are as unique as the prints she produces. While Feinstein uses traditional printmaking techniques to generate many aspects of her monoprints, her finished works are anything but conventional. Combining materials like laser cut and printed paper, fabric, and heat-formed printed Plexiglas, Feinstein’s works become not only three-dimensional, but so optically activated that they seem to move on their own. The complex linear and circular patterns created by the fervid layering produce a Moire effect, providing visual tension between each strata that shifts and pulses as the viewing angle changes. The dynamism and vibration between foreground and background are both perceptive and sensory, calling back to traditions of Op Art titans like Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely. In addition to her monoprints, Feinstein will exhibit a sweeping installation of printed and curved sheets of Plexiglas–a forest of towering cylindrical forms that overlay her linear patterns and circular motifs over and over again.

Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display until March 5.