Claudia Cohen
Works:
The Other Side of the Ocean
Lizard Bill
Merfish
Artistic Statement:
Impact, not realism, is the aim of sculptor Claudia Cohen. By exploring figurative and narrative subjects, her work raises questions about the condition of being human. Her style has been described as comic surrealism, a style that blends objective reality with mythology and flights of fancy.
Her sculpted beings, in bronze and ceramic, portray a magical cast of characters; human, animal, or a fantastical progeny from a universe of her own devising. Combining humor and pathos, the works involve the viewer in this mysterious world of the artist’s intuition. Much time and effort goes into the creation of each piece , to obtain the look that her imagination conjures forth. Sometimes the process ends at the first firing of the kiln, and the piece remains in the medium of ceramics.
And sometimes the process goes much further. The fired clay original is taken to her favorite Foundry, Artworks in Berkeley, where the complicated process begins to cast the piece into metal. The final and most transforming step occurs at the stage when the subtle range of patina colors are applied to bring the work to life.
“To be able to shape my dreams and fantasies in tangible form, to see what three- dimensional forms those mysterious sparks form within my subconscious will take is for me what the search is all about. And creating these works allows me to share these visions with others.”
Claudia Cohen, 2000
E-Mail: [email protected]
** Update **
I was deeply touched by the emotion I felt when viewing my first Cohen sculpture. I found it a surreal situation. The life she was able to give to the cold hard metal was amazing. I was astounded at the detail & emotion she was able to capture. Many people have questioned me about my interest this particular artist. I have to tell them that for some reason I feel a strange closeness to her & her works of art. She has profoundly changed my perception on this type of art & opened me up to a whole genre which I never found too interesting until my run in with this artist.
I am sure that you have all heard a song from a genre of music which you were not accustomed to listening to which changed your perception about the genre & opened up your interest in it, right? Well, that is what happened to me when the first time I saw one of these sculptures, Lizard Bill. It is a fantastic work of art worthy of the praise, at least in my modest opinion. What do you think?