Jess Cochrane

Like Bacon, Cochrane shares the belief that chaos breeds images; in distilling raw emotion and sensation straight onto the canvas or paper in the most immediate way possible. The artist does not pre-draft her works and is primarily preoccupied with chance in painting. In addition, her damning of traditional symbols and motifs reclaims autonomy for the women she paints. Her works are comforting, both in their size and colour palette choices, yet sensuous and playful. The impact of this, culminating in such immense, powerful works is unforgettable.

The artist’s signature approach of using gestural and expressive mark-making, worked over the surface of glossy, flawless photographic portraits reflects our relationship to imagery and, to our own self-image, the way we both display and disguising parts of ourselves. Our constant quest for perfection.

Ultimately, Jess Cochrane's artworks, raw and visceral, go against the very symbols that seek to condemn women. And in doing so, she succeeds in both - providing a highly aesthetical experience as well as leaving the viewers with the question: how these paintings make us feel when we understand the absurdity of our past and sadly, the outdated and subversive feminine beauty that still exists today.

Jess Cochrane is a London-based Australian artists. Following her sell-out debut London exhibition Study of a Woman Talking to Herself, 2019, Jess Cochrane returns with a new body of work inspired by symbolism in 17th century portraiture. A Woman By Any Other Name features a suite of portraits depicting women posing to camera, adorned with the fruits and flora traditionally depicted in Renaissance portraiture.