Friction
By Marieken Cochius
“Friction,” by Marieken Cochius, is a selection for the Columbia Journal’s Special Issue on Uprising in the art category.
Artist’s note:
These ink drawings on paper are part of a series I made in the spring of 2020. (17 x 12.5 in.)
I was inspired by the continued fight against all that is constricting. Friction causes some of the energy of motion to be converted into heat and can have dramatic consequences. My sculptures, drawings, and paintings capture fleeting moments in this organic world, dominated by chaos and change. The energy that natural forms temporarily contain, yet inevitably transform, particularly inspires me. These drawings evoke the mystery and power of nature through intensely materialist and tactile forms and imagery. They explore the porous boundary between what is seen and felt, where perception and experience merge.
About the author:
Marieken Cochius is a Dutch-born artist who has lived and worked in New York City since 1987, and in the Hudson Valley since 2013. Meditative, strong and intuitive work that often explores growth forms, movement and containment of energy, she is drawn to remote places where she studies nature and makes art inspired by it. Her work encompasses drawing, painting, sculpture. A sculptural public commission was completed in 2017 for the Village of Wappingers Falls, NY. She is a 2020 Recipient of an FCA Emergency Grants of COVID-19 Fund, and Marjorie Curit award winner for Contemporary and Non Traditional art.
Cochius' work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and institutions in places ranging from New York City, NY, Berkeley, CA, Austin, TX, Los Angeles, CA, to Japan, Germany and the Netherlands. She has participated in residencies including the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT. Cochius has participated in recent exhibitions at the Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA, Roxbury Arts Center, Roxbury, NY;; The Ely Center, New Haven, CT; Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY; LAB Space, Hillsdale, NY; Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Ube Gallery, Berkeley, CA. Her work was recently featured on covers of Willard and Maple Magazine, Sun Spot Journal, and inside Oscilloscope, Superstition Review, Tule Review 2020, Cold Mountain Review, Mud Season Review, Micacle Monocle, Art for a New Earth, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, Esthetic Apostle, FLAR, DeLuge Journal, Alluvian Environmental Journal, Raw Art Review.
