all things (un)holy
The television buzzes overhead, conversations are heard in flux, caught in pieces and parts, as the glowing sun sets upon our supple skin. Nadia Lee Cohen is the patron saint of these cherished heavenly memories. The British visual artist and photographer places her gaze on the unsettlingly kitsch and surreal, typically crafting works that lay their love to reality through dreamy, stylised recreations of those moments you can’t quite place but live rent-free in your head nonetheless.
But in her newest project, Holy Ohio, Cohen sets her sights on the scenes that already kneel before us every day. This time around, the non-fiction, the mundane, and the everyday moments are honoured. Revisiting her childhood, Cohen took a pilgrimage to visit her family in Columbus, Ohio, this summer, and her camera naturally came along with her. Captured in precisely close, intimate shots, Midwestern moments are held close and critically examined with care and a dash of dark humour. Children run free with starry switchblades, cigarettes bury themselves inside lungs and into the lips of nuns. Collections of bullets, rifles, and stuffed toys hang parallel, forever side by side.
Ready to worship? Pick up a copy of Holy Ohio at Dover Street Market London or worldwide online on IDEA, dropping in limited numbers on December 12th.
Words by Gabriella Meshako
Images by Nadia Lee Cohen via WePresent
