Susan Cohen – Engrossed in Egg Tempera

In Dialogue

Work in progress, Constellation, Nasturtium, egg tempera on panel. Photo, courtesy of Cecilia Andre

Painter Susan Cohen began her artistic journey by depicting the interiors of the places she lived, drawn to the emotional resonance of light and shadow. While that early intensity has softened over time, her fascination with light remains the core of her practice — animating her still lifes, landscapes, cityscapes, and close-up studies of foliage.

You studied with Philip Pearlstein, Lennart Anderson and Lois Dodd. What was it like and how did it impact your work?

I was fortunate to study for my Masters in painting at Brooklyn College at a time when so many fine representational painters were teaching. Studying with them was life changing. Lennart Anderson taught me to look closely but dispassionately. We mostly painted still-life in his classes, and this became central subject matter for me. Philip Pearlstein was brilliant, with an encyclopedic knowledge of art history. In his class on traditional techniques, I learned how to prepare boards with rabbit skin glue and powdered titanium, which is useful now that I’m painting in egg tempera. Lois Dodd was so insightful at critiques that I remember and value things she said to this day.

You currently have twelve paintings featured at George Billis Gallery through November 29th. Can you tell us a bit about your body of work in this group show?

All of the paintings include flowers or closeups of plant life. The two oil paintings are still-lifes, and the remaining ten are egg tempera. I am drawn to the intricacies and endless possibilities found in nature. In egg tempera, I paint from composites of photos I take. In oils, I generally work from direct observation, both of the still-life, and when I’m painting on location out-of-doors. However, the two oil paintings in the show were painted from imagination and photos.

Single Rose of Sharon, Egg Tempera on Panel, 8” x 10”

You have been working with oils and in the last two years you started painting with egg tempera. What drew you there?

I am captivated by the work of George Tooker, Paul Cadmus and Jared French at the Whitney Museum. Almost two years ago, at the recommendation of a fellow painter who works in both oils and tempera, I took some classes at the Art Students League with Doug Safranak, a master of the medium.

Egg tempera combines drawing and painting, transparency and opacity. I fell in love with it, almost immediately. With the exception of two weeks this past summer when I painted in oils in Italy, I am thoroughly engrossed in egg tempera.

Late Summer Pageant, Egg Tempera on Panel, 14” x 11”

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Photo courtesy of the artist

About the artist: Susan Cohen received her MFA in painting from Brooklyn College. While there, she received a graduate fellowship and was the recipient of the Charles G. Shaw Award for painters. She earned a BFA from the Boston Museum School and Tufts University. This is her fourth time exhibiting with the George Billis Gallery. Previously, she exhibited with Liz Garvey, the Painting Center, NYC, and the Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME. As an erstwhile member of Zeuxis, an association of still-life painters, Cohen’s work was shown in venues around the country. Her work is in many private and public collections, among them the US State Department Office of Population, Refugees and Immigration. She was a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Cummington Community for the Arts. She lives in New York City. @georgebillisgallery @susancohenpaintings