As common as it is to see naked people, even if only ourselves in the shower, there is something unique and curious about the work of illustrator/artist Fernanda Cohen. I could say it's because of her simple bold, bright, color palettes or perhaps the absence of gravity that leaves her subjects suspended in mid air. But, honestly I don't like it for any of those reasons. No, I like it on a visceral level, the same way I like stepping into a hot bath on a cold, rainy day.

Her latest personal series, Water Makes Me Wet, which is now being shown in Buenos Aires, feels like a one-on-one conversation between Fernanda and Fernanda. Her subject-matter is cohesive all around, combining simple gouache and ink drawings with intricate hand cut-out work on paper. The body language of the woman depicted is warm, inviting, and almost introspective, yet the blue water dripping all over her suddenly makes you aware of your own skin.

Three by Fernanda Cohen from Water Makes Me Wet, copyright and courtesy the artist.

I spoke with Fernanda just before the opening of her show at El Agua Me Moja, at Centro Cultural Borges in Buenos Aires, Argentina last week.

Nate Williams: Can you explain the meaning of El Aqua Me Moja (Water makes me wet), the title of your exhibition?

Fernanda Cohen: The paintings in the exhibition evolved from a set of window displays I opened last week for the Argentinean fashion designer Martin Churba. The installations are titled Molecules and they use water as their source of inspiration. The main store, located in Recoleta neighborhood, features a 3-D fish tank consisting of thousands of hand-painted bubbles in different shades of blue, with a female figure floating in it. So, in combination with my own personal growth as a woman entering a new decade, where every corner of my being seems to have discovered a new sensation, that work slowly evolved into the idea for Water Makes Me Wet. I find the title funny and innocent yet quite sensual.

NW: Why this subject matter of sex?

FC: Everyone likes sex, therefore everyone can relate to it. This is the first time I've done a personal series where sex is so openly implied. I'm not a big fan of explicit sex art. I like subtlety. I appreciate the sophistication involved in being seduced by art that is inspired by sex but doesn't necessarily show it.

NW: Would you make art if it was never seen by anyone? How important is an audience's reaction?

FC: I can't truthfully answer that question. But I think I would because I started drawing way before I went to school, became commercial and started calculating the pay before I accepted an assignment. I miss those innocent times once in a while, but obviously not badly enough.

NW: How important is an audience's reaction?

As an illustrator who went to school for illustration, teaches illustration, lectures on illustration, moderates illustration panels and illustrates for clients, to me the audience means e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. My goal is to make my audience stop to look at my images and hopefully consume whatever it is my client is selling through my work. As an artist, especially when I work on personal pieces, I can't help my background, which is combined with a pragmatic personality that forces me to always have some kind of purpose in everything I do.

Water Makes Me Wet can be seen at Centro Cultural Borges through August 30th. Mon-Sat, 10 am to 9 pm. Sun 12 pm to 9 pm. Fernanda's Martin Churba window displays can be seen at Tramando from August 13th through September 6th, 2009.

Nate Williams is an illustrator originally from the western United States but currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also the creator of Illustration Mundo.

New York based artist and illustrator Fernanda Cohen is a faculty member of the School of Visual Arts, Vice-president of ICON6, lecture coordinator at the Society of Illustrators of New York and adviser to 3×3 Magazine. She is currently designing T-shirts for the GAP (RED) campaign, as well as a handful of advertising and editorial illustration assignments.