Wendy Cohen is a Sydney based professional artist who is a graduate of the National Art School, attaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2015 and a Master of Fine Arts in 2017.
Wendy’s aim is to convey her own fetish, poetry and harmonious rhythm to the paintbrush, developing playful imagery with an emotive and inventive sensibility. The loose whimsical brushstrokes concerned with Abstract Expressionism and the precise shapes with Geometric Abstraction, are the composites of Wendy’s paintings. Her practice focuses on the relationship of mark making, textured, sweeping brush strokes, shapes, lines, forms and colours with the relationship of natural and urban surroundings that are communicated in a painterly abstracted language.
Her paintings are a visual syntax that entices the viewer to engage in the joy of her oeuvre as the pageantry of the visual field of hues, shapes, light and shadows create a playful freedom of expression.
With a sense of curiosity, exploration and discovery, a lyrical genre is created that results in spontaneous mark making as well as an exciting interplay between the shapes, forms and colours imbued with the ebb and flow of textured brush strokes and the alchemy of a variation of colours.
This spectrum of colours offshoot the radiance of its hues to create harmony, balance and most importantly mystery. Wendy interprets colour with the sounds of the soul as being the transcendental essence of music to give her paintings a lyrical expression that captures the beauty of creation as well as her cultural influences. But most importantly, the artist hand is visible to highlight uncomplicated, and uncontrived yet organic compositions that also incorporate collage elements.
In her textured mixed media paintings, elements of hessian, cardboard, paper and recycled materials are collaged and brought back to life in the creative form. Contrasts are achieved with a variation of collage elements that create an interesting dichotomy between the textured paint, the elements of materials and the flatness of the surface.
Observation, intuition and imagination are key to Wendy’s process as she responds to the interconnection of the world, but most importantly she welcomes the viewer to participate in the mystery and wonderment of her paintings translated onto the canvas with a syncopated rhythm and beat.