Lily Pond, Giverny. Approximately 24 x 26" in size.

As a process-oriented painter, Bernice Koff becomes intrigued with new materials and tools. She uses acrylic inks for their dramatic colors, handmade papers and digitally printed photos as both supports and collage elements. Squeegees, toothbrushes and palette knives are as likely to move paint across the surface as are paintbrushes. She often applies paint first and draws second; as she sees images emerge on the surface, she brings them to life using the appropriate tools. These images come from imagination, but are often rooted in the vast files of photos she takes, whether of flowers in her garden or more unique sights seen while traveling. She may use the photo itself as a collage element in the painting or merely refer to it during the painting process.

While fascinated by the human form, the people in Koff's paintings are not those one meets in daily life; they are actors, geishas, clowns, women and men hiding behind masks and fans, often revealing in their eyes or mouths the emotions behind their painted beauty. She is drawn to theatre, revealing her New York upbringing, to art history, reflecting an education as an art museum docent, and to the joy she finds in travel. While Koff loves nature's beauty, colorful fish, butterflies, and flowers, she more often responds to things manmade: floral arrangements, art objects, wine bottles, and cityscapes.

Koff's other, and strongest influences, are literature and language, her first passions and college majors. Images from Shakespeare, phrases in English, French and Italian, and references to the world of art are the subject of many paintings; these references may be recognizable to the viewer or simply part of the subtle emotional content of the work. While striving to make art that is original and creative, Koff still considers herself a traditional artist, working on a two-dimensional surface; this is, after all, the time-honored goal of the painter.

View Bernice Koff Interview on Ohio News Network.

Read article about Bernice Koff in the Ohio Magazine.

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