JAMAICA PLAIN, MA — The Jamaica Plain Branch Library, in partnership with the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, is pleased to present Beneath the Rustling, the opening exhibition of its 2026 rotating art series, featuring work by Brookline artist Shoshanna Ehrlich.
Ehrlich’s practice is rooted in the fleeting, often unseen nature of human experience. Through layered surfaces, deliberate erasure, embedded text fragments, and hand-crafted collage papers, her paintings suggest the subtle “rustling” of memory and meaning that resides just beneath everyday perception.
From richly textured grounds, her abstracted figures emerge in a liminal space—inhabiting stories of displacement, border crossing, and transformation, while simultaneously holding space for viewers to bring their own interpretations. With a quiet, restrained palette, Ehrlich aims to create moments of contemplation and repose, inviting memories to surface gently rather than interrupt the visual encounter.
The exhibition’s title draws inspiration from a poem written by the artist’s father, Frederick M. Ehrlich, near the end of his life. In “In the Boston Museum of Fine Arts,” he reflects on the spectral layers of history contained within the museum’s displays—urging readers to listen closely for what lies “beneath the rustling.” His words echo the themes present throughout the exhibition: presence, absence, lineage, and the unseen threads that bind us.
In the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Coming from a room containing
artifacts of Oceania,
is a rustling sound.
The spirits of ancestors
cannot get through the glass
of display cases.
Beneath the rustling,
I hear the moan of wind over islands.
We need our weeping
and the ceremonies with which we bury our dead.
Acres of stones
say “Rest in Peace.”
Listen when you go into the museum,
you will hear the ancestors
who do not age, who dare not leave.
— Frederick M. Ehrlich, How the Dead Stay in Touch, Flutter Press, 2017
Beneath the Rustling is on view from January 8 – March 4, 2026, with a public reception to be held on Thursday, January 8, 2026, 5:30-7:30 PM. The library is open Monday-Wednesday 10-6, Thursday 12-8, and Friday and Saturday 9-5 (closed Sundays). The exhibition space is located on the lower level.
Inquiries?
shoshanna.ehrlich@gmail.com
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, a non-profit organization committed to planning and sponsoring free educational and cultural programs for all patrons of the JP Library.
