The Immersion Series

This is my exploration of the Jewish custom of immersing oneself in water, and was started in the late 1990’s when I first took up a serious study of Jewish texts.

This ancient act of purification holds deep resonance in Jewish tradition, signifying transformation, and the intimate connection between body and soul. It is part of a traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism. It signifies the transition from non-Jew to Jew. Other immersion ceremonies may center on lifetime events such as married life, major holidays, etc.

The immersion in water is not just a physical act; it is a journey from one state of being to another. My paintings aim to convey this transformative experience, focusing on the serenity, bliss and strength inherent in the ritual. I strive to illuminate the fluidity of the woman’s form, and the profound connection between the two, symbolizing spiritual rebirth and the power of faith.

The act of immersion is deeply personal yet universal, and through my paintings I aim to create a space for reflection and connection.

“The importance of Verwer’s mikvah paintings is twofold for the history of Jewish-themed art in America. First, both series reflect the still unrecognized devotion to their religion of artists who explore Jewish themes. And second, Verwer has developed an entirely new iconography of mikvah experiences as a base for other artists to explore further”.

-      Matthew Baigell, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University

Book of Yona series

As an artist rooted in a journey of migration, spiritual transformation, and ecological consciousness, my work moves between memory and myth, between the intimate and the cosmic. Born in the Netherlands and now living in New York, I draw on my own experience of crossing continents and traditions, exploring the porous boundaries between identity, heritage, and renewal. My practice seeks to make visible the hidden currents that connect human lives to land, water, spirit, and history.

Water is my principal metaphor, a symbol of transformation and purification.

Through the series The Book of Yona, weaving together immigration stories, biblical narrative, and augmented-reality video, I explore identity in flux, exile and return, the tension between displacement and belonging. A submarine in the waters of New York’s East River becomes a modern whale; the ritual of immersion becomes the metaphor for conversion, for rebirth, for the forging of a new self rooted in history. 

More broadly, my art is an ongoing meditation on the cycles of destruction and regeneration, ecological, cultural, spiritual. I explore how heritage and tradition can be re-imagined in contemporary form, how rituals transform in new lands, how identity evolves without losing connection to roots. In fusing traditional iconographies with modern media, painting, augmented reality, installation, I hope to build bridges between past and present, between individual story and collective destiny.