photo by Skip Treglia
Artist Statement
I began making collages in the early 2000s. At the time I was painting plein-air landscapes in northern California. After moving to Cape Cod in 2003 I eventually returned to collage to express my thoughts and perceptions, as well as develop a more abstract take on form, color and composition. Inspired by travels in various American Chinatowns, the working harbor in New Bedford, Mass, in Yucatan, Mexico, and by the antique obi silk scraps my sister sent me from Kyoto, I find great challenge and pleasure in producing these cobbled-together works.
About Elaine Cohen
Elaine Cohen, writer and visual artist, grew up in Gloversville, NY, then studied Anthropology at the University of Chicago. Immersed in Chicago's vibrant music scene, she began writing about jazz and contemporary music. Her career as a jazz journalist In San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City extended from 1978 throughout the 1990s. Her book with bassist Red Callender, Unfinished Dream: The Musical World of Red Callender, was published by Quartet Books of London in 1985.
From the late 1990s until movig to Cape Cod in 2003, she worked as Development & Communications Director or Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, an established printmaking workshop. At Kala she met and was inspired by several artists including Nathan Olivera and Peter Voulkos. She was also influenced by painters she worked with such as Olaf Palm, Dave Walker and Camille Przewodek. (Cohen wrote the Foreword for Przewodek's recently published Mondays With Camille.) For the past few years she's been studying with Ed Chesnovich.
Since her move east, she has exhibited paintings and collage in juried and member shows at art centers and libraries throughout Cape Cod, including the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, where she was awarded a Romanos Rizk Memorial Scholarship. Gallery shows include Salt Meadow Gallery, Color Obsession Gallery, West Barnstable Table; solo collage shows at Gateway Center in Santa Monica and Gallery 63 in New Bedford, MA.
Cohen is also a poet. Recent recognition for her writing includes a residency fellowship from the Atlantic Center for the Arts; Regional Winner 2021/Honorable Mention 2023 in the Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest judged by Marge Piercy; and a 2022 Editor's Choice and 2023 Honorable Mention in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards. In 2023 she published her second chapbook of poetry, Midnight Bus to Oaxaca.
Queries regarding paintings/collage and ordering Midnight Bus to Oaxaca, contact Elaine by email at lainecohen@yahoo.com