Selene Mauri Cochrane
Selene Mauri Cochrane is a textile and mixed media artist based in Brisbane, Australia, with over three decades of experience as a costume designer and maker. Now working full-time as an artist, she fully embraces her expertise in pattern making, dyeing, fabric manipulation, and embellishment, seamlessly integrating these skills with her passion for ceramics.
Her practice is deeply influenced by her experiences living with chronic pain from scoliosis and other health challenges, driving her to create works that transcend both emotional and physical suffering.
Much of Cochrane's work is influenced by Carl Jung's theory of animals as symbols of self. Jung believed animals symbolise unconscious aspects of the self, embodying both primal instincts and hidden desires. They represent the creative and destructive forces within us, offering insights into parts of our personality we may not consciously recognise, and this is an idea echoed throughout Cochrane's practice.
Often dark and thought-provoking, her work compels viewers to confront their own relationship with their innermost selves. Through recurring esoteric and existential themes, myth, fantasy, and the use of signs and symbols, she tells truths-good, bad, and often unspoken.
Her work is always highly detailed and decorative, with every element meticulously handcrafted, from ceramic pins and jewels to hand-stitched lace, using her antique Cornely machine. This intricate craftsmanship reflects the complexities of life itself.