1981-1988

The 1980s are characterized by a greater playfulness as Kogelnik combined simplified images of domestic items, clothing and tools with insects, amphibians and reptiles in brightly colored paintings and works on paper. She continued to examine the portrayal of women: the siren, the neo-classical figure, the fool, combining them with her newly expanded visual vocabulary. From the mid-80s, these elements also started to appear as sculptural forms made in ceramic. Often employing the slab technique, she returned to the use of stencils to cut forms, which she would assemble into brightly glazed constructions. Central to these works is the use of a series of faces or masks that suggest once again an image that is presented rather than the personal, which is private and withheld. In 1986 an exhibition provided her with the opportunity to revisit her vinyl Hangings on a more expansive scale than she had been able to achieve previously and with this, invitations to create large installations and public commissions soon followed.