Liz Cohn (b.1962) Portland,USA
Originally a painter, Liz Cohn took up collage at the age of 40 when she had a visitor living in her studio and she had to find a less messy and smaller way to make art in her living room. She then realised she liked making collages more than painting. As a collagist she is influenced by Robert Rauschenberg, Joseph Cornell and her friend Eunice Parsons who has been making collages for 55 years. Liz is not fond of using the computer as an artistic tool. “Working in the real world with real materials is art. Texture, edges, and depth are things I can feel with my fingers. You can’t get that with digital images”.

Liz Cohn loves recombining images, thus creating an entirely different story that is infused with her sense of humor. “I might use book pages from a book printed in 1850, or a poster weathered on a telephone pole for three years, so the individual elements have a history of their own. Then I combine them because I see some interaction or relationship. The personal histories of each piece add interest. If it is purely abstract or geometrical, it is my sense of balance and composition that becomes the theme.”

“If I start with a plan, I can seldom stick to it. The process of creating has surprises around every corner for me the creator, and that is why it is fun for me! Some pieces take weeks to complete and others I can make in two days. “