Bernard Cohen Things Seen #5, 2005

In Things Seen #5 we see the densely layered, dizzying arrangements characteristic of Cohen's work, in which an internal sense of order is gradually revealed over time guiding the eye of the viewer. The radial partition marks areas where the backgrounds differ subtly. 

My interest in etching began when I was a student at the Slade in 1951. The physicality and durability of the medium has had considerable influence on the development of my painting. An image that has been etched with acid into copper is a thing complete in itself. It may be inked and printed in a variety of colour ways but its physical presence will never be fundamentally altered. 

In making the set of etchings called "Things Seen," I had in mind those wonderful polychrome churches in the Poitou district of France, and of how their timeless Romanesque shapes and forms have been coloured and re-coloured by succeeding generations.