Oil on Canvas
118 cm x 83 cm
141 cm x 104 cm framed
Mandorla Art Prize Entry 2026
 
Ruach is an ancient word for divine breath. This painting, First Breath, Last Breath, depicts a person both being born and dying within the same frame. It visually describes human life as the summation of a single, finite breath - mysteriously divine and conscious. A baby takes his first breath as an old man releases his final, animated by a cosmic force that appears to sustain even the life cycle of stars. The composition forms a butterfly supernova in space, mirroring the delicate symmetry and anatomy of human lungs. The work invites contemplation of origin and source: how breath begins, where life-force goes, and how the patterns and phases of life, death and renewal in the universe echo within us all.