ABOUT KARLA COHEN
A LITTLE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Biography
Born in Atlanta, Karla’s artistic journey is as much a study of movement—across geographies, disciplines, and philosophies—as it is an exploration of form and expression. Her creative sensibilities were first nurtured under the mentorship of Virginia Carnes at The Westminster Schools of Atlanta, where she developed an early fascination with color, composition, and the emotional resonance of art. These formative years instilled in her a lifelong devotion to both the intellectual and intuitive aspects of artistic creation.
Her academic pursuits reflect this duality. Karla majored in French and International Relations, supplementing her studies with Hebrew, political science, art, and art history—an interdisciplinary foundation that continues to inform her work. Over the last three decades, her life and international, expatriate experiences—moving between Singapore, France, the UK, and most recently, settling just outside of Boston—has shaped not only her artistic vocabulary but also her philosophical orientation.
Deeply influenced by the Fauvist movement, Karla’s aesthetic bears the imprint of Matisse’s bold simplifications, Klimt’s layered symbolism, Munch’s minimalist depth, Münter’s expressive colorism, Cézanne’s structural innovations, and Picasso’s radical deconstructions. Cohen tries to create with intention and strives to honor as she borrows from these masters.
In recent years, Karla’s practice has expanded into film and videography, allowing her to weave movement, sound, and visual distortion into a more immersive experience. This shift has given her the freedom to explore time as a medium—layering imagery with rhythm, pacing, and the emotional weight of music, a lifelong passion. Through film, she extends her painterly language into a dynamic space, where shifting compositions and soundscapes heighten the tension between structure and fluidity, control and release.
Since 2017, when she began making art a more prominent focal point in her professional life, her practice has evolved beyond personal reckoning and release into an active and necessary method of translating experience and emotion to help others who struggle with the same. Driving much of her work (and the sense of urgency behind it) is the desire to make what she considers the most essential aspects of life—love, trust, faith, hope, forgiveness, kindness, and compassion—accessible, if not tangible, through art.
Beyond capturing beauty or reveling in aesthetics, she grapples with complexity, depth, and inquiry—a search for meaning that echoes Jewish philosophical traditions close to her heart, where questioning is itself a sacred act. Informed by the Kabbalistic notion that divine sparks are embedded within the material world, Karla’s art seeks to uncover, rather than impose, truth. Inspired by Picasso’s assertion that “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth,” she plays with perception, layering perspectives to challenge both herself and the viewer.
ABOUT COHEN'S PROCESS
Artwork
Cohen’s work thrives in a state of flux, where past and present, memory and perception, fracture and coalesce. She paints to process and honor her experiences—the places she’s been, the people she’s encountered, and the cultures she cherishes. Drawing inspiration from post-impressionism (particularly Fauvism) and contemporary artists who push boundaries, she aspires to “make the intangible tangible.” Her influences are evident: the bold minimalism of Matisse, the ornamental mysticism of Klimt, the psychological depth of Munch, and the raw emotionality of Gauguin. Yet she does not merely inherit these visual languages—she dissects, distorts, and reassembles them, forging something deeply personal. Her work pulses with the tension between beauty and rupture, control and surrender.
Cohen’s art is an act of excavation—of memory, emotion, and the unconscious forces shaping perception. She does not seek to capture a moment but to uncover what lies beneath it, exposing the shifting terrain of human experience. In her hands, images dissolve and reform, fractured yet whole, their distortions revealing deeper truths. Her work is a map of movement—of shifting perspectives, fractured memories, and emergent visions.
At its core, her practice is about transformation—not just of form, but of feeling. Painting becomes a means of processing, connecting, and healing. The physicality of her mark-making—scraping, smearing, layering—is a dialogue between intention and spontaneity, between knowing and discovering. Destruction is as vital as creation; by breaking down images, she reclaims them, allowing something raw and honest to emerge.
Her contemporary influences draw from Ghenie’s visceral distortions, Cecily Brown’s restless energy, Doig’s dreamlike unraveling in an effort to resonate not only in style but in sensibility. Like them, she embraces the instability of memory and the tension between presence and absence. Many of her paintings and mixed media pieces are a palimpsest of thought and emotion, a layered meditation on loss, resilience, and renewal. Her motivation lies in that quiet, electric moment when a work takes on a life of its own—where meaning is no longer dictated, but discovered—stirring something unnamed yet deeply felt.
Whether working on canvas, paper, or screen, Cohen searches for meaning in the fragmented, reconciling what is felt with what can be seen. To follow her evolving vision, visit her upcoming exhibitions or connect on Instagram @karlacohenart, where process and final form unfold in real time.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
Representation
Cohen actively seeks opportunities to exhibit, collaborate, and create for those who share her passion for bold explorations of color, form, and storytelling. Her art captures the essence of both individual and collective experience, drawing viewers into dynamic narratives that bridge emotion, history, and personal reflection.
Her work has been featured in prestigious venues, including Boston City Hall, The Hyde Park Gallery, The Menino Arts Center, The Belmont Gallery of Art, The Mosesian Center for the Arts, The RW Norton Gallery & Museum, and The Longview Museum of Art—all within the last two years alone. Since 2017, her pieces have found homes with private collectors and arts-focused organizations, solidifying her reputation as a rising force in contemporary art.
Karla Cohen is represented by Heidi Heilman, an esteemed community leader and art agent who serves as the primary point of contact for all inquiries, including: purchasing original works, licensing images, commissioned custom pieces, opportunities to participate in public or community-driven projects.
For opportunities outside North America, particularly in Europe, Karla is also supported by Neha Verma, a close friend and ally whose background at Brown University, Harvard University (Kennedy School and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences), and McKinsey & Company has helped expand Karla’s reach. Verma has played a pivotal role in connecting Karla’s artistic practice with broader creative disciplines, including recent collaborations on screenplays and projects that translate her visual storytelling into film.
From private collections to large-scale public installations, Karla approaches every project with passion and purpose. She is particularly dedicated to public art initiatives, nonprofit collaborations, and community-centered projects, with a special interest in murals and solo exhibitions.
She welcomes collectors looking to expand their collections and enjoys working collaboratively with patrons to develop unique, personalized works. “The bigger, the better,” she often says, favoring acrylic on canvas with a preference for pieces 36 x 48 inches and larger.
Karla’s work has earned accolades in juried competitions, winning awards from Teravarna, the Arts to Hearts organization, and Women in the Arts UK. Her art has also made an impact in the literary world, serving as cover art for Rivak Slonim’s Women, Bread, and Fire and an upcoming publication by creative writing professor Baruch November.
With the support of Heilman and Verma, Karla’s art continues to inspire, challenge, and connect people across disciplines and geographies. Whether through gallery exhibitions, public installations, or interdisciplinary collaborations, her mission remains the same: to bring artistic vision to people, places, and spaces in ways that are ever more meaningful.