COBI COCKBURN

Within three circles, I broaden my understanding of light and line, as abstractive tools, to permeate the subconscious and provoke innate feeling. Serial spheres, filled with neon, moving from one electrode to another, diffused behind the sheet of glass, this series extends my current practice through introducing new techniques and methodologies. Reduced in visual patterning and colour, they promote my growing awareness of, and interest in, the existential and powerful possibilities of line and composition. A meeting point of reduced information and heightened awareness that is the core of my work.

Choosing glass as my primary material, I have formed a relationship with the medium that spans over 20 years, offering a unique language; embodying both a 2D and 3D presence, it acts as a portal into an otherwise unreachable plane. Influenced by areas of minimalism, driven by personal experience, and searching for depth and clarity, I find myself challenged, to continually revisit traditional techniques and eliminate visual distraction.

Using the fundamental form of a circle, I highlight the individual, yet through seriality, I remove isolation. Repetition of universally understood symbol, representing totality, wholesomeness, the self, timelessness, and the void. Studying ideas of illusionistic depth, playing opacity against transparency, and using traditional glass techniques in appropriated ways, I celebrate facets of perception, emotion, and consciousness. A concept where the material and immaterial elements are hybridised and there is no higher or lower ground‚ Through reducing visual stimulus to its essence, my intention is not to burden the viewer with technical process or emotional weight; it is to inspire contemplation and enlightenment.

Cobi Cockburn is a contemporary artist based in Kiama, NSW. A unique combination of concise minimalism and abstract expressionism, her work explores subtle transitions of transparency and hue. Previous awards include the FUSE prize in 2020, the Tom Malone Prize at the Art Gallery of WA, in 2009 & 2015, the Ranamok Glass Prize in Sydney, the Lino Tagliapietra Prize and Talente in Germany and Emerge in the USA. Cobi’s work is held in both public and private collections.

In Close, 2023
Sheet glass, neon light
Each panel: 750mm x 750mm x 60mm
$13,200