To Rejoin the Ocean | Rachel Leah Cohn

This intensely colorful, multi-faceted installation concerns themes of communication, mythology and rituals. Rachel says, “This work began in a cold creek in Wisconsin in 2021. While at ACRE Residency in Boscobel, I was emerging from the isolation of the pandemic and deeply grateful to spend time each day in nature with new friends. Sitting in the water became a healing act, reconnecting us to our bodies, to one another, and to the landscape. I came to understand the creek as a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath: a site of cleansing, purification, and transformation. The physical sensation of cold water against my body offered an antidote to the loneliness of the previous year. Through ritual, the pool also connected me to an ancestral past and a long history of entering living waters and emerging renewed.”

About the Artist:
Rachel Leah Cohn exhibits her work nationally and internationally, including Contemporary Art Museum of Indianapolis (CAMi) (IN), ACRE Gallery (Chicago, IL), Satellite Art Fair (Miami, FL), Terrain Biennial (Springfield, IL), Massey University (New Zealand), Qatar Museums (Qatar), the Istanbul Design Biennial (Turkey) and Aterlierhaus Salzamt (Austria). She has attended many artist residency programs, including Arteles Creative Center (FI), Vermont Studio Center (VT), ACRE Projects (WI), Signal Culture (NY), Otis College of Art and Design (CA) and the Fire Station (Qatar). Rachel holds a BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design, an MFA in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University and teaches at the School of Art at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Gallery Hours:
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays: 12:00 - 6:00 pm

Image: Swimmers 1, 2025, 16"x16"x3.5", acrylic in custom lightbox