ARTIST STATEMENT
"Some of my earliest memories are working with my hands, making paper designs and patterns, an activity that's become the basis of my artistic vocabulary."
My fascination with two-dimensional art shaped my childhood and eventual art curriculum at American University in Washington, DC. A brief career in the interior design world as a drapery specialist allowed me to incorporate fabrics from my workroom into paintings, developing a mixed media approach to the visual arts.
In the 1990's, my commitment to my art led to a membership, then presidency, of the Artists Atelier, a cooperative of 40 artists, in Atlanta where I lived at the time. There I studied under Joe Perrin, professor emeritus, Georgia State University, and Ouida Canaday, a well-known regional artist. I also studied painting on silk, which led me in exciting new directions. Other mentors including Jon Whaling, a nationally known fiber artist, encouraged me to work in innovative ways with paints and fabrics. Two one-woman shows, and a private commission for an installation of 40 paintings, added to my growth.
Once a Denver resident and just recently moved to Dallas, I've been blessed with new opportunities to develop my unique approach which I call "fusion art." In this effort, I freely combine brightly colored acrylics with a wide range of colorful hand-dyed and textured fabrics. Themes close to my heart include Native Americans, Biblical motifs, and scenes of Jerusalem, all infused with my preference for abstraction.
Inspired by the rich variety of the geology and landscape of Colorado, my most recent endeavors explore the inherent beauty and mystery of rocks and trees. Working in multiple canvas series that are open to changing installations, the end results combine photography, fabric fusion and paint, creating an entirely new and spiritually charged experience of the everyday world.
When I observe the world around me, I cannot help but intuit that the variations of nature- the elements, the sky and sea, the earth and all her creatures upon it- reflect God's creation of an infinitely diverse cosmos. No design is ever repeated exactly. This concept provides an infinite number of ways to see beauty and inspires my art. I like to think I am a lens that can focus on any one of his animate or inanimate objects and shine a new light upon it. The fusion of fabric and paint helps me see the world in patterns, textures and multi-dimensions. In my mind, my images aren't flat but rather, three-dimensional -- if not in reality, then surely spiritually round.
Meryl Cohen's "Fabric Fusion" is a unique art form rich with interest and detail. Color and texture mingle in her creations, with subtle and surprising solutions to the process of presenting an image and telling a story.
JURIED SHOWS
Colorado Jewish Artist Guild at the Canaan Gallery, 2005
Focus: Fiber 2002, Textile Art Alliance of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Atlanta Botanical Gardens Art Show, 1996
Callaway Gardens, 1995
Foothills Festival of Art, 1987
El Cajon Art Association 1989, 3rd place
SOLO EXHIBITS
Columbus, Ohio Jewish Community Center, 2000
Temple Sinai of Atlanta, 1991
PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS AND COLLECTORS
Yeshiva High School of Atlanta
Columbus Kollel
First National Bank - Loveland & Aspen, CO
Aspen Healthcare Metrics - Denver, CO
Whiting Petroleum Corporation - Denver, CO
Teri Tidwell - Littleton & Morrison, CO
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
McGraw Hill Building in Columbus, Ohio, 2002
Dublin Arts League for Rea Associates, 2002
Jewish Community Center of Chicago, "Art and Soul" exhibit, 1998
Midwest Conference of Women: Halacha and Modernity, 1998
Etzion Judaica Center, Israel, 1997
Atlanta Artists Club
Artists Atelier of Atlanta
Dorothy McRae Gallery, Atlanta, with Robert Lipnick, 1992
REPRESENTATION
The Art Source - Denver, CO
