Linked With Nature : Deanne Belinoff and Sam Erenberg convey their spiritual observations in a show at Platt Gallery.

Beauty in art need not always come in the form of a pretty picture. It can be found in much more abstract depictions of our connections to nature and to each other.

Deanne Belinoff and Sam Erenberg see the magnificence in our relationships to the Earth and the sky, to the past and the future. In their exhibit at the University of Judaism’s Platt Gallery, “Fragments and Notations: recent work by Deanne Belinoff and Sam Erenberg,” they convey such observations in different but highly complementary bodies of work based on their personal bonds to the people, places, things and ideas they hold dearly in their lives.

The exhibit is part of “Towards a Greater Realm,” a series of 11 shows taking place this fall throughout Southern California that focus on spirituality, myth and inner journeys as expressed in contemporary art.

Erenberg’s most prominent work on display, the oil on wood panels “Alphabet of the Angels,” presents symbolic images of the Hebrew alphabet. He created the piece out of a combined fascination with aspects of religion and science.

“I’m interested in archeology and anthropology,” Erenberg said. “Whether it’s painting, sculpture, installations or book making, I like to bring in as much as possible in my work. This piece came from visits to archeological sites--Asian, Egyptian, Pre-Columbian, Jewish.”

Equally significant, “Alphabet of the Angels” also reflects his reading of the Cabala, a Jewish mystical interpretation of Scriptures that was developed by medieval rabbis.

“It comes from the Book of Splendor in the Zohar, a medieval text that began to be written in early 14th-Century Spain by Moses de Leon, a Jewish mystic,” Erenberg said. “These symbols become part of his toric events in people’s lives.

Erenberg has also spent “many years collecting images of nature,” he said. In recent years, he has scanned some of the images into a computer, intensified them, and printed them out. In this show, there are two works formed by a series of six small images each--his own abstracted views of our cosmology. In both works, each panel contains a word from the phrase, “In the Year of The Lord.”

“They feel like something in the distant past or the far future at the same time,” he said.

Also in the show are three books Erenberg has created. Two are collaborations with his late father, Arthur, who wrote the “Grin and Bear It” comic for three decades.

One of the father-son collaborations, “Other Fantasies,” sports a picture of boxer George Foreman, who, it happens, has become a boxing champ again during the run of this exhibit. “That’s quite Cabalistic, that coincidence,” Erenberg said. “The idea of chance is a big part of my work.”

Chance is also an important aspect of Belinoff’s astute contemplation of humanity’s relationship with nature. In her installation, which she dedicated to her father, she created what she calls “Homologies”--correspondences in structure or origin--by bringing together elements from the human and natural worlds.

A latex hand holds a tree branch. A brain cactus is paired with the picture of a human brain, a piece of quartz with a dental mold of teeth, a stone with a latex nipple.

She wants people to recognize, she said, that “such objects as a tongue and leaf are deeply and originally associated in more than the aesthetic sense.” She added, “I feel so strongly about us needing to connect with the natural world.”

These pieces were formed as a “matter of coincidence and synchronicity,” she said. “I have always collected the parts. I have always taken photographs. They came together very magically. I had such faith in the putting together of this installation. When I’m working well, I feel I’m collaborating with something I know about but can’t put a name to.”

Where and When

What: “Fragments and Notations: recent work by Deanne Belinoff and Sam Erenberg.”

Location: University of Judaism’s Platt Gallery, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. Closed Saturdays. Ends Dec. 30.

Call: (310) 476-9777, Ext.276.