1 Photo
Joyce Ruth Silver died at home in New York City on March 5, with her family by her side, after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 81 and had a home in Water Mill, where for 35 years she loved to come for weekends and for the month of August for vacation and attend to the garden she maintained there.
Ms. Silver was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1933, to Iris Alpert and Irving Silver. A year later, her parents moved to Cambria Heights, Queens. As the only Jewish child in the neighborhood, she escaped isolation and ostracism by later attending Washington Irving High School in Manhattan, which also nourished her burgeoning love of art. She went on to earn a certificate of art from Cooper Union and a bachelor’s in fine arts from the University of New Mexico.
Her early career as an artist spanned painting, jewelry and textiles. She eventually transitioned to a less solitary calling in helping people to navigate emotional challenges and reach their full potential, first by working with at-risk youth at a local drug treatment center and then in private practice as a psychotherapist, which she maintained until her death. She graduated from the Bioenergetic Institute in 1979 and received an master’s in social work from Yeshiva University in 1996.
A fearless pioneer in many areas of life, she and her then husband were among the first artists to carve out a home in Soho and they transformed a former carpentry factory into a loft, reflecting her passion for eclectic art and artifacts from around the world.
Ms. Silver’s creative energies, her exploration of the soul’s journey, and love of Judaism as a spiritual guide found a home in a Beit Midrash, a community of artists who produce artistic interpretations of sacred Jewish texts at the Skirball Center, Temple Emanuel in New York. As such, her later art reflected the symbolism of Jewish tradition and pathways of the unconscious mind. In recent years, she attended Shabbat services at the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons during the summer months.
She lived her life as she painted—in bright colors and bold strokes. Fiercely independent with a will of steel, she never hesitated to speak her mind or thwart convention. Often adorned in orange or turquoise, she held forth on topics ranging from the history of psychology and art, to politics, to the flowers and grasses that adorned her cherished summer home in Water Mill.
As much as the pulse of the city suited the breathless pace of her life, she found solace in the woods, mountains, and ocean. “In my work,” she said, “I try to capture nature’s capacity to nourish the soul.” Her paintings, often a unique and colorful blend of realistic and abstract images, were shown in several venues—in the Hamptons at the former Crazy Monkey Gallery in Amagansett, Ashawagh Hall, the Southampton Arts Center, as well as the M-55 Gallery in New York City. She was a member of the Artists’ Alliance of the Hamptons and the Artists’ Circle in New York. There is a website displaying her creativity at joycesilver.com.
She approached the world with curiosity and a zest for adventure. She lived in Spain in the 1960s, taught Bioenergetic therapists in Brazil, Germany and France in the 1980s, biked along the Great Wall of China in 1981, later traveled to Egypt and Israel, hiked East African villages, and dined with members of the Jewish community at a synagogue in Istanbul in 2012.
She also found a deep current of inspiration in community, and her days were filled with a steady flow of friends, many of whom she knew for 50 years or more. Survivors said Ms. Silver touched and inspired many with her ability to penetrate the superficial and cast a line straight to the contours of the heart with an enduring belief in the human potential to rise from challenge and flourish.
She found energy in all forms of the arts, and it was opera that connected her to the love of her life, Fred W. Oser, her husband and companion of the past 18 years. They met by chance seated side-by-side at the Metropolitan Opera.
Above all, her greatest joy in life was her daughter, Soshi. “Motherhood,” she said, “was like an entrance into a mysterious club.”
Ms. Silver is survived by her daughter, Shoshana (Soshi) K. Cook of Ithaca; her husband Fred; step-daughters Corey Oser of Washington, D.C., Mandy Oser Bracken of New York City; and Corey’s son, Ousmane. She also leaves her canine companion, Belle.
Her funeral was handled by Plaza Jewish Community Chapel and Ms. Silver was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery & Mausoleum on Tuesday, March 10.
Memorial donations may be made to the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, www.arfhamptons.org.
on Apr 3, 2015