Nancy Cohen is widely known for her experimental works with hand-made paper and large-scale sculptural installations, many of which also include handmade glass, cement, reformed found objects, metal and rubber. Cohen has an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology. Recent international projects include installations in Karmiel, Israel and at the CODA Museum in Holland. Cohen has been awarded a Pollack Krasner Grant; residencies at The Millay Colony, Yaddo, Pilchuck Glass School and the Corning Glass Museum; and multiple from the NJ State Council on the Arts. Cohen’s work is in the permanent collections of the NJ State Museum, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Montclair Art Museum, & Yale University Art Museum among others. In 2016 the artist’s solo exhibition (catalog available) Hackensack Dreaming, traveled throughout the U.S. to venues including New Jersey City University, Duke University and Urban Glass. The exhibit premiered Cohen's most ambitious installation to date and was reviewed in ArteFuse, Sculpture Magazine and was selected as one of ten top exhibitions in 2018 by Interior Design Magazine. Cohen currently has a solo exhibit on view at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey.

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“American sculptor and installation artist Nancy Cohen is passionate about water, so much so that much of her work for the past 12 years has focused on the topic. Her large-scale installations are the product of significant research on the history and ecosystems of individual waterways that have been damaged by human interventions and climate change.”
– Susan Hoffman Fishman, “On the Enduring Beauty, Power and Fragility of Water”

“Water is an intrinsic component in making paper. During the paper-making process, the artist is literally immersed in water. Paper also allows for the reflection of water’s movements and color changes and can accommodate grasses and other natural materials that are embedded in the paper itself. In addition, many of the waterways I have addressed, such as the Mullica River in South Jersey, have had a long history of paper-making along their shores. Similarly, sand is a major component used in glass-making, which also took place in factories along these waterways.”
– Nancy Cohen