Jennifer Cochrane

Jennifer Cochrane lives and works in Perth, Western Australia, where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Curtin University in 1988.

For over 20 years, Jennifer has created sculptures and site-specific installations for exhibitions and public spaces. Her practice stems from a strong history of object-based art; always approached with the intention to pursue a simplicity of form and a desire to create works with an appreciation of less is more. At the core of her practice is an emphasis on process-oriented production, which inevitably involves repetitive labour-intensive techniques. Jennifer consistently explores perspective and point of view, and how these concepts impact upon interpretation and understanding.

Her works have become increasingly diverse – while on residency in Basel, Switzerland (2016), she created installations that explore shadows, specifically capturing a shadow from one of her sculptures in Australia and replicating it in Basel, thus creating an ‘impossible shadow’. Beginning as site-specific tape installations, the shadows became abstracted marks; removed from their original context and the form that created them. They no longer represent a specific moment in time intrinsically linked to light, form and point of view.

The Impossible Shadows have continued since the Switzerland residency and returned full circle to three-dimensional interpretations. Now in large-scale, Jennifer explores the use of industrial and civic materials, such as galvanised pipe and handrail fittings, to continue her exploration of the Impossible Shadows series.

Jennifer has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and her works are represented in various public and private collections. Her public commissions are numerous and include sculptural works for: Wallcliffe House, Margaret River; Harvest Lakes Estate, Perth; City of Mandurah Council Chambers; Parliament House, Western Australia; Anzac Park, Mount Hawthorn; and the Pilbara Police and Community Justice Services Complex, Karratha.