Small Object Spaces: Familiar

Metro Arts Window Gallery
97 Boundary St, West End QLD 4101

Opening event on Sat 21 November, 4-6.30pm
16 Nov - 20 Dec 2026

Opening Event | Catalogue (COMING SOON)

MIXED MEDIA SCULPTURE EXHIBITION Familiar Small Object Spaces

Named after a witch’s supernatural companion, Familiar is a collection of handcrafted mixed-media works by Brisbane-based artist Selene Mauri Cochrane. The collection explores beauty and pain, life and death, and humanity’s hidden dimensions. Four sacred vessels and a heart vessel evoke Egyptian canopic jars which protected organs for the afterlife. Informed by Carl Jung’s understanding of animals as expressions of instinct and the unconscious, these creatures form a talismanic self-portrait drawing upon animal symbolism, mythology and transformation.

Combining fabric, ceramic, handmade lace and thread, Cochrane constructs chimera-like forms evocative of fur, flesh, feathers and antlers. The contrast between fragile, solid ceramics and soft, resilient textiles embodies tensions between vulnerability and strength. These material contrasts also evoke boundaries between the real and the surreal, the living and the dead, and the beautiful and the grotesque.

Drawing on her background in period costume production, Cochrane interweaves stylistic references from disparate historical periods, creating an aesthetic that exists beyond conventional perceptions of time. Honouring those persecuted as witches, Familiar becomes a memorial to the marginalised and misunderstood, inviting reflection on the shadow self, remembrance and renewal.

Selene Mauri Cochrane Mixed Media Artist