Strung together from the Psalms and Sefer HaMiddot (by Ukranian Hasidic master Reb Nachman of Breslov) these phrases are repeated over and over on the pages of an imagined “book of peace”. Bleeding through into the color fields of blue, the composition of color fields creates a sense of harmony and peace. When pulled down, the “murky waters” shade obscures the goal of peace: according to Sefer HaMiddot (Peace 7), “Murky waters are a sign that there is no peace.” Whether the shade is up or down, depends on the viewer’s moral account at any moment: if they, or the world, is in danger, the shade is down; if they, or the world, is pursuing peace, the shade is up. When the shade is lowered, however, is precisely when it must be raised, so that the viewer can meditate on the color and words of peace.

Pages from Sefer HaMiddot (by Ukranian Hasidic master Reb Nachman of Breslov), reflect various Jewish wisdom statements on how to recognize or obtain peace. Here, Wortzman focuses on the paradox of having contradictory advice on how to obtain peace within the same text, reflecting the complexity of achieving peace and the conundrum of dichotomous paths. Reb Nachman states both that “Truth brings to peace” and “Anything that is done to foster peace does not fall into the category of” the legal requirement to “distance yourself from falsehood”. The clash of these paths is seen in the opposing forces of red and green that collide at the axis of the gestural “X”.

Using opposite colors as a means of expressing the dichotomy or divisiveness characteristic of a lack of peace, the middle ground becomes a “peace zone” by unifying (or mixing) the two opposite colors.
The words are transformed into a call to action, come from Psalm 34:15: “Seek peace, and pursue it.” Color theory shows how blue and orange, as opposite colors, intensify when placed along side each other, and this is used to amplify the message.

A visual reading of the Biblical text of the crossing of the Reed Sea.