Laura Cohen often finds herself working in circles. The Birmingham-Southern College junior art student creates patterns of the same shapes and adds lines around them, all woven together with a watery feel.

“It’s become a motif of mine. I do it a bunch, and it has this aquatic look,” Cohen says.

She’s always been drawn toward depicting water in her work – from her first interest in art as a high school student, carrying into her courses at BSC. For her summer internship with the Mobile Arts Council, Cohen stayed close to her home in Fairhope and close to the Gulf.

This summer, Cohen has helped the Mobile Arts Council with promotion and communication, their gallery space, and monthly Art Walk events. The nonprofit supports local artists and other programs similar to the art camps Cohen grew up participating in.

“I wasn’t aware of how the business side operated. I didn’t know how art nonprofits make money and where the money goes,” she says.

Between Fairhope and Mobile, Cohen has been surrounded by an active art community, one that centers on the water. Restaurants in her home are filled with coastal art, often celebrating jubilees, a phenomenon that occurs in only two places in the world (one being Mobile Bay) when fish and crustaceans rise to the surface with the tide.

Cohen has shared a similar interest to the artists in her hometown. After the BP oil spill in 2010, she was struck by how her life on the bay changed. She remembers the sudden shift from spending summers at sailing camp to not being allowed near the water.

“It bothers me that I can’t go swimming in the bay if I have a cut. It’s so important to keep waterways clear, and I feel that burden,” Cohen says. “When it came to my AP art concentration, I wanted to focus on the water.”

With this in mind, her style emerged. Many of her high school pieces relate to the environment and the culture of the bay. Cohen uses layers of mixed media in her art and sometimes includes repurposed trash. She contrasts blue waters with the bright layers of trash and waste that pose a danger to sea life.

“I like when I have paint, chalk, and pencil. The more I keep cluttering my art with mediums, the better it gets,” she says. Cohen layers drawings with both soft and heavy colors, and the layers help her style emerge. “I still make environmental work but in a more abstract way of presenting it.”

Her art classes at BSC have helped Cohen grow by introducing her to new mediums and talented professors. She plays around with light and reflections, and she’s expanded her experience to include printmaking, fresco painting, and sculpture, which includes sustainable fashion design.

“My professors push me. They push me to find ideas and help me see all of the options I have,” Cohen says.

When she created a blanket-like fabric from plastic bags, Art Professor Jim Neel showed her the work of a few designers, inspiring her to transform the sculpture into a piece of clothing.

One of Cohen’s favorite pieces to work on recently was a drawing of the view from her BSC apartment. The collection of leaves blend together, and the trees stand lean and tall as light peaks through.

“I love being outside, and I have a love for light,” she says.

After completing her internship in Mobile, Cohen hopes to find the same quirky and tight-knit community in Birmingham. She’s grown up around the galleries and shows of Fairhope and has now met the “characters of Mobile,” and she’s ready to connect with Birmingham artists, too.

“Birmingham still feels new to me. I let myself get into a bubble, but working with the Mobile Arts Council helped me see the community possible,” Cohen says.

To see more of Cohen’s portfolio, visit her website at lauracohenart.com.