My Beloved

In My Beloved, Kopel Gurwin draws inspiration from the lyrical world of the Song of Songs, creating a celebration of love, nature, and abundance. At the heart of the composition stands a young woman holding a cluster of grapes, her gently inclined head crowned with a profusion of violet, blue, and magenta blossoms. Her graceful silhouette, rendered in deep black felt, emerges against a luminous ivory background, lending the figure an almost sculptural presence.

The surrounding ornamentation evokes the richness of a flourishing vineyard. Against a warm, earthy brown ground, curling black vines intertwine with clusters of sapphire-blue and purple grapes, crimson foliage, and vivid pink floral motifs. The striking contrast between these saturated colors and the subdued tones of the central figure creates a composition that is at once exuberant and remarkably harmonious.

Above the woman, verses from the Song of Songs unfold in sweeping concentric arches, fashioned from Gurwin’s distinctive Hebrew letterforms. Their muted shades of rose, mauve, and sandy beige echo the warmth of the surrounding ornamentation. More than a written inscription, the lettering becomes an architectural element, framing the figure and uniting poetry with visual form.

The passage from Song of Songs 7:12–13 invites the beloved into the fields and vineyards, where the awakening of nature becomes an expression of affection and desire. Through his imaginative interplay of color, ornament, and hand-cut felt, Gurwin gives tangible form to the poem’s enduring celebration of love and renewal.