Meet Coca

The Coca Collection represents freedom. Having grown up in communist Romania as the daughter of an activist, Coca saw the bounds of her reality manifested within every small act of life. Simple trips to the local piazza for groceries were chaperoned by government officials, and phone conversations with friends were monitored her entire life. Coca’s creative outlet became her escape from this reality as a child, as she explored many mediums of art from hyper-realistic charcoal drawings, to oil painting, leather work to digital abstract art. As a young adult, she found the courage which few possess to flee her communist birthplace, with baby Rona in tow. Despite multiple failed attempts resulting in arrest, Coca was motivated to build a life for her new family in a country where she would be free.

Rona owes the privilege of the life she lives entirely to the risks taken by her grandparents and parents. Rona’s grandfather, Corneliu, kept a daily journal spanning 7 decades, depicting stories of activism as he fearlessly advocated for change in his country, and the harsh and merciless prison term which followed. His character instilled a fearlessness which continues to live on, and sales from the Coca Collection are dedicated to publishing Corneliu’s memoirs. This is how the Coca Collection was born.