cohen is most notable for her "bodywork" art project and the work "trabantamino" (2002–2010) transforming an east german 1987 trabant automobile into a 1973 chevrolet el camino using gears and hydraulics. as part of the project, cohen transformed her body and hired a personal trainer and dieted so she could appear in a bikini to be the model for the car at lowrider shows and for a series of photographs used to promote and document the project. she had mentioned wanting to feel less like a performer and more like an "insider" of the masculine car subculture, and the female modeling aspect of the car photos were part of her membership.