Francie Cohen: From OCD to Art Basel – How This New School Artist’s Journey Inspired Divinity Magazine for Women…

Francie Cohen: From OCD to Art Basel - How This New School Artist's Journey Inspired Divinity Magazine for Women and Non-Binary Voices

Francie Cohen, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and currently a senior at The New School, is New York’s ultimate Renaissance woman. From modeling, social media marketing, painting, and everything in between, Francie has turned her variety of artful passions into more careers than you can count.Over the years, Francie has developed a uniquely anthropomorphic and unapologetically carefree style of painting, and she had the opportunity to show her art at the Art Basel exhibition in Miami. Complimenting the themes of her striking art, Francie debuted the first issue of her magazine, Divinity in October of last year. Dedicated to the stories of women and nonbinary individuals, Francie’s zine is a safe platform for discussions of gender, art, societal challenges, and everything in between.

Francie had always had a passion for art since her youth, but it was her experience in her high school AP Art class that inspired her nonchalant style. Creating art was difficult, and almost impossible for Francie, as her struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder caused her to intensely focus on creating art that was “perfect”. If there was a brush stroke or pencil mark out of place, Francie said that she would restart entire paintings over and over again until they were perfected to her liking, often to a point of tiring and toxic debilitation.

To preserve her love for painting while also combatting her OCD, Francie would simply “close her eyes and create.” Primarily drawing faces and bodies, she fell in love with the beauty of imperfection and distortion. Francie has since built upon this concept through the utilization of different mediums such as collage work, canvas painting, digital art, and magazine printwork.
Francie just recently showed her art for the first time at Creativo’s Adam and Eve Art Basel event in Miami. She displayed two large acrylic on canvas paintings along with a variety of smaller paintings. Characterized by abundant floral motifs, Francie’s collection is a testament to her electric passion for learning, growing, and spreading knowledge.

Her first large piece, “Gazing Bloom” features four human-flower hybrids with a bright yellow background. Stems are a classic element of Francie’s work, as they represent the beauty and excitement of personal growth, and it is through this growth that we “bloom” to our highest potential. Her other large piece “Running Affection”, showing two blue heads about to kiss with a stem connecting them, alludes to Francie’s high valuation of interpersonal relationships. Each leaf on the stems is representative of a new lesson learned through friendship, which Francie views as a main vehicle of self-empowerment. She also displayed several smaller (yet just as colorful and insightful) works of apples with similar themes and motifs.

Eye imagery is the heart of Francie’s work. She features them abundantly; Whether floating in space, magnified exponentially, or a typical size within a sea of faces, they always stand out as focal pieces.

“I see eyes as a center of self,” says Francie. “They represent the importance of finding your consciousness through the act of letting go.”

Francie was incredibly grateful to show her art at the Miami Art Basel, and she hopes that this is the first of many. She is currently planning an art exhibition in 2025 that will feature the work of a variety of female artists. Francie’s pieces from the Art Basel event as well as others not featured in the collection can be viewed and bought directly from her website.

Using the message of her art as a backdrop, Francie recently launched the first issue of Divinity, her own original zine dedicated to the stories of women and nonbinary individuals. The zine consists of a variety of media - from handmade art to poetry and photography, Francie hopes to build a community of inspiration, knowledge, and celebration. Divinity’s first issue featured a range of subjects such as fashion, spirituality, music, health, and queer culture. While she encourages people to attach their own meanings to the name of her brand, Francie relates the word Divinity to the divine power of womanhood, sisterhood, and femininity.

It was a high school women’s health class that sparked Francie’s initial idea for Divinity, as she realized the severe deficiency in women-focused media.

“The class opened my eyes to the silent burdens women carry” says Francie. “I began envisioning a platform where these stories could be shared—a space to amplify women’s voices and provide young girls with knowledge and empowerment.” Francie is currently accepting submissions to Divinity’s second issue, and she encourages all women and non-binary individuals to contribute in any artful way they Wish.

Francie’s enthusiastic and optimistic art beautifully parallels the message of Divinity, and she hopes that her brand will inspire marginalized communities around the world to not only feel safe and heard, but also to share their true, authentic selves through storytelling and art. Through Divinity, Francie is creating a future imbued with passion, creativity, and resilience for those whose voices have long been oppressed.