About Ora

Ora Nissim, a pioneering Israeli artist born in 1978, portrays the Jewish world as a broad spectrum of colors and emotions.

Ora depicts Jerusalem, the city where she was born, in her own unique way.
Using a play of stains and paints, she creates fascinating compositions; an interplay of texture and breathtaking use of color. These result in powerful works of art that leave no spectator unmoved.

The experience of the creation is to give birth to something new, different and unique, and to each time dream and fantasize anew about my Jerusalem through the piece.

My Jerusalem is full of rich and colorful cultural magic. It has a wide spectrum of languages and cultures, unique characters and varied styles of clothing. All this creates a magical and unique atmosphere.

When walking below Jerusalem’s skies, one feels something different in the air; holiness and spirituality blend with the fragrances of spices and cooking; and the sounds of prayer and song accompany the colorful characters intermixed with the black-garbed images of Hassidim.
How I love to remove their black clothing and to dress them in colorful dresses full of movement and joy.

I grew up in the Jerusalem neighborhood “Mea Shearim.” There I discovered how much colorfulness, feeling, movement and joy are hidden behind that black clothing. All worship of G-d is expressed with joy; the holidays, the prayers, the Sabbath table, the ceremonies associated with each…. What contrast and what magic.
This is the reason for the atmosphere that my work portrays. The aura of Jerusalem is the unifying element. There is a Sabbath and holiday atmosphere that expresses itself in spiritual colors, and there is an everyday atmosphere that has within it materialism and worldliness. There is the atmosphere of longing and yearning for redemption, and there is the atmosphere of diaspora. Each day in Jerusalem has its story, its atmosphere, and its primary color.

I use a lot of gold in my work. Gold instills hope within me for better days, days of tranquility, and the yearning for the Messiah and complete redemption.
Ora Nissim is a successful, innovative and pioneering artist. She is at the forefront of modern Jewish art. Ora was one of the first artists to apply modern, colorful and abstract methods of art to Jewish and spiritual topics.

Her works are on display in exclusive galleries in Israel and throughout the world, in museums and respected collections, as well as in the deluxe Waldorf Astoria hotel in Jerusalem. Ora participates in international exhibitions, projects and prestigious artistic initiatives.

She has received seven art prizes for innovation in modern art:

International Prizes:

– “The Woman’s Essence” – International Women’s Exhibition and receiving an art award for creative women, April, 2023 Berlin, Germany.

-Arts prize (my 6th award), Assylum Chapel, London. “The Best Modern and Contemporary Artists London Prize,” December 7, 2022 London, England

-Caravaggio – Milan 2018

-International Prize Botticelli – Florence 2019

-International Prize Velasquez – Barcelona 2019

-Giotto International Prize – Lisbon 2019

– Spectrum Brooklyn with World Wide Art – NYC 2021

In the heart of the liveliest place in Jerusalem, 153 Jaffa Road near the Machane Yehuda market, Ora has opened an exclusive gallery where she displays her colorful and magical creations, drawn using a variety of unique techniques, bestowing on them Jerusalem’s earthly light.