Self-proclaimed visual artist and art activist Zoe Cohen believes that art is in the eye of the beholder.
Last night, Cohen offered a room of students a look at some of her avant-garde works, expressing her mantra that you don't need the artistic prowess of Michelangelo to create art. The event took place in Harrison College House and was the third installment in the Art Speakers At Penn series, Penn Art Club's program that showcases local artists.
Through her work with mixed-media and installation projects, Cohen draws connections between the subject of her artwork and her materials.
Among her works is a piece called Shadows of the Seven Fruits of Israel and Palestine. The work is composed of a sheet of white paper embossed with impressions of real fruit and other food items, such as wheat, figs and olives.
The inspiration behind the work, Cohen said, comes from the designs of the cell tissue from the lining of the stomach and intestines. The work demonstrates the way food physically becomes a part of our bodies and communicates the message that fruitfulness can belong to all people, she added.
Another piece Cohen showed was called Ripple Effect, a design that represents the connection between mother and infant through the navel. Making impressions of her own navel with unfired clay balls, Cohen arranged each imprinted ball to look like the cell tissue from the uterus and placenta.
Other works reflect the value Cohen places on origins and connections as well as her preoccupation with patterns she can't control. For instance, in Blood and Oil, she used Palestinian olive oil and her own Jewish blood as her media.
Cohen also specializes in participatory art, which stems from an "activist vein" and strives to engage people in their communities.
The Listening Station, which looks merely like two boxes on a street corner, invites people to sit and interact with each other.
Cohen described herself as "a facilitator or an interventionist, not just the maker of objects."
College freshman Hilary Gerstein said the discussion made an impression on her. "The artist did a good job of explaining her process because it brought the images of her work to life," she said.
College sophomore Rachel Bauer also enjoyed the presentation.
"When you go to a museum, you only see the piece without hearing about the background," she said. "It was nice to hear the concepts and ideas behind [Cohen's] work."
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