Continuing with the theme of feminist communities, Genevieve Cohn explores the notion of cooperative labor in To Sow Stones at Mindy Solomon Gallery.
"My paintings project possible communities of women by drawing from both a historical and imaginative past, present, and future. Utilizing imagery and ideologies drawn from The Women’s Land Army from World War I and World War II, as well as female separatist communities, fairy tales, and literary fiction, my paintings acknowledge and reflect a world where female power is derived from collaboration, self-endowed agency, and connection with the natural world. I consider ideas of collection, adornment, beauty, and choice as the figures within the worlds of my work construct spaces that engage ideas of ritual and practice."
Drawing once again from richly layered storytelling, Cohn imagines a world bathed in orange and pink neon and layers of warm and cool translucent colors. Strangely oppositional—almost unlikely, these pigment choices lend an otherworldly, fictional sense of existence to the subjects on view. Rounded, stylized figures bending and moving, occupy an outsized placement in the picture plane, creating a sense of pleasant distortion.
Embracing femininity combined with an adherence to labor creates an interesting combination of perception and reality. The silent workers in Cohn’s paintings hold space while never being intrusive. Quiet, persistent and meditative—the perfect and fitting metaphor for Cohn’s work and her continued maturation with the gallery.
