Jesse Cohen

I did not come to art through the traditional path of galleries, residencies, or art school critiques. I came back to it.

I grew up creatively inclined, but like many people, practicality intervened. I became a lawyer and spent over two decades in the legal profession—an environment defined by structure, precision, conflict, and constant pressure. While that career sharpened my discipline and analytical instincts, it also pulled me away from a quieter, more intuitive part of myself that had been there since childhood.

Eventually, I reached a point where ignoring that part was no longer possible.

Relocating to Los Angeles marked a turning point. The city gave me permission to begin again. Around the same time, I founded Mount of Angels, a youth arts foundation dedicated to providing creative access and mentorship to young people. Working alongside kids who create without fear or pretense reawakened something fundamental in me: the simple, urgent need to make.

My own work emerged organically from that rediscovery. It is physical rather than theoretical. I am drawn to color, texture, shape, and pattern. My art is a reflection on my mood, and of the light and the dark that we live with in equal measure.