Regina Marie Cohn left a success career in fashion to work by her husband artist Ryan Matthew Cohn’s side. Embracing her inner shadow, Regina explains how she began on this intriguing journey and found true purpose and passion amongst the specimens and oddities of their New York home. With so many exciting projects underway we welcomed a chance to peep inside the Cohn’s incredible apartment and learn more about life as a bone wife.
– Regina Marie Cohn –
“Love, Skulls & Lingerie”
Regina lives in Brooklyn NY with her husband and their gorgeous cats, Princess Andromeda and Percy Blue. Having recently left the world of fashion behind her, Regina now works with husband Ryan buying, creating, restoring and selling one of a kind pieces of osteological work, antiques and oddities.
Ryan often tells me I’m the most morbid person he has ever met. I find that extremely amusing coming from a man who has spent most of his adult life collecting rare skulls, specimens and oddities. Soon after meeting Ryan I realized being morbid is certainly not defined by how you dress, how many tattoos you have, and the things you own. What I admire most about my husband is the passion he has for his art, his obsessiveness for detail and the energy he exudes when given the opportunity to educate and speak about his lifework. For those of you who don’t know, I am married to the artist Ryan Matthew Cohn. He is both an avid collector of antique medical rarities and television personality.
I accept that I am the dark soul in this union. The one who struggles with catastrophic thoughts and often ponders the meaning of my existence. Ryan is actually the bright light. Luckily for me his light is so radiant, it shines bright enough for the both of us.
I am far more comfortable being quiet, and observing from the shadows.
Well, perhaps until recently…
Witnessing Ryan’s daily enthusiasm it became quite evident that the spark I once had for over a decade working in the NYC fashion industry was quickly dimming. I started to feel indifferent, which led me to difficulty when trying to lead and mentor hundreds of eager associates beneath me. In reality, I knew deep down inside my interests laid somewhere else. I knew I had to work with Ryan somehow, so after months of discussion, we decided to join forces. Using my experience in business with his creative talents to build our own unique brand.
I would be lying if I said this has been a smooth transition. I think I was in shock for the first couple of weeks and spent the majority of my time panicking whilst obsessively cleaning the house. It was during this time I finally had the opportunity to study the collection in thorough detail. Being a collector myself (I collect high end lingerie among other things), I really understood the obsessiveness and attention to detail it takes to grow an extraordinary and coherent collection.
My journey began with learning some technical work. One of the first things Ryan showed me was how to clean and macerate bones. Next was dissecting a 19th century fetal monkey in a jar that Ryan had procured from a medical University. The point of this dismemberment was to get to the skeleton (they don’t magically articulate themselves). So, first I had to carefully skin the specimen, remove all muscle & tissue then get to the cartilage and bone. Once most of the skeleton was cleaned we went into the drying and finishing process. Although I loved spending my day in the studio getting my hands dirty, it was quite apparent over the coming weeks my true strengths were in managing Ryan’s overall organization as an artist. This allows him to focus mainly on his creativity and leave the brains and business to me!
I am loving my new found freedom from corporate America. I can finally say, “when you are doing what you love, it never feels like work”. I love Ryan. He is my soulmate, my husband, and an artist who I respect, believe in and want to watch grow. As a result of our our new pairing, we have so many exciting projects in the works. One of which is taking a 19th century medical wax museum we purchased from Germany and combining it with a full scale cinema and bar here in Brooklyn NY. The project is called “House Of Wax” opening late August of this year in association with “Alamo Drafthouse”. One of Ryan’s exploded skulls will be featured in Guillermo Del Toro: “At Home with Monsters” exhibition showcasing Guillermo’s collection of oddities and art. We are also plan to open our own medical history museum focusing on our collection in the near future… and who knows, you may also be seeing a TV show soon, so stay tuned!
Death and the Maiden 
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