If I Were A Bell *

Biography

Pamela Kogen's mixed media paintings are an abstract response to the ever-changing marine environment she lives by. Her work integrates the free spirit of line and mark-making as she continues to develop a personal vocabulary. Her paintings present an ongoing dialogue between gesture and form with a sense of playful openness, her passion for color playing a significant role in the world she creates.  Pamela is drawn to textiles, for their history and utility, and often includes "working" textiles such as burlap and ticking in her pieces. A lifelong sailor, she has recently been repurposing discarded sails in her mixed media works, opening a new chapter that brings together her passion for sailing and art-making. Sometimes incorporating stitching in her work, the lines of thread are a reverent nod to her mother's sewing, woman's work and sail repair. 

After a career in fashion as a wardrobe and prop stylist for advertising and edi-torial media, Pamela segued her career into illustrating for many of her fashion clients and created Pamela Kogen Illustration, LLC. Her drawings appeared on packaging, greeting cards, clothing, in books, museum shops and publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Mademoiselle, Self and Forbes, as well as for MoMa(NYC), and advertising for Barneys NY, Estée Lauder and Liz Claiborne, and many more.

Pamela graduated from Parsons School of Design(NYC) with a BA in painting.
Born on the East Coast, Pamela lives in San Francisco, CA, and works out of a studio in the historic ICB/ART building in the Marinship section of Sausalito, CA. Her artwork appears consistently in Bay Area shows. She was a featured artist in the 2022 publication ‘'Artists of the Bay Area–Volume ll (Jen Tough Gal-lery)",and ‘'American Artwork 2023.’'

Artist Statement

"Creating art is a way for me to synthesize the visual splendor and constantly shifting reflective water world I live by and have the fortune of sailing on. The challenges and tensions one often experiences on the water, in turn, play out in the studio: Lessons in being present."