With a focus on capturing contemporary culture, Jess Cochrane investigates the shared human experience. Cochrane’s compositions weave together a story influenced by Impressionist gathering scenes. Just as Renoir or Cézanne represented everyday life in a time of rapid growth and industrialisation, so does Cochrane today, recreating the ‘mundane’ of the 21st Century. Such echoing of an Impressionistic past, paired with contemporary details – today’s clothing, smartphones, recent technology – reflects a cyclical perspective on the intersection of art and society.
‘It Won’t Last Forever’ refers to our constant attempt to freeze ephemeral moments through social media and digital photography, hoping to relive memories indefinitely. The idea of the passage of time is also inferred by Cochrane’s recurrent nod to consumerist habits, suggesting the inevitable end of an instant, an action, a product – every work subtly features elements to be used for our personal indulgence: a bowl of tangerines, a coffee, a cigarette or candle.
