The current exhibition of Ruth Cohen’s paintings presented in the portico of the Jerusalem Theater deals with the many and varied faces of the female being as it is translated into Cohen’s canvases.
In her book Goddesses in Everywoman, Jean Shinoda Bolen draws attention to the fact that women are not aware of the influence of powerful forces and archetypes that work within them. Dr. Bolen presents seven personality types, seven archetypal goddesses with whom every woman can identify and who, looking closely at Cohen’s diverse paintings, can also be recognized in her personality and multifacetedness: Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the moon, embodies the independent and accomplished female spirit. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and art, represents the logical and self-confident woman. Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, embodies the patient and stable woman who is surrounded by a sense of wholeness. Hera, the goddess of marriage, Demeter, the goddess of grain, represents the woman’s drive to provide physical, emotional and spiritual support to her children. Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, expresses the woman’s tendency toward submission and tolerance and the desire to please others and be desired by them. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, prompts women to fulfill their creative abilities.
