CONTEMPORARY ART STOCKROOM Meg Cowell

JOIN PREVIEW LIST

**News Update**
Meg Cowell's work 'Deep Space' is now featured on the cover of New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts’ latest novel, Inheritance.

Meg Cowell’s large-scale photographic works depict theatrical, nostalgic garments, arranged and illuminated from within a large body of water. Using water as a medium of buoyancy and illusionistic display, Cowell aims to generate a sense of the garments being ‘inhabited’ not only by their absent wearer, but also by a complex of moods and emotions. The physical act of fashioning these inanimate subjects motivates her engagement with the nature of ‘absence’ and the use of fabric and clothing as a medium of visual and personal expression.

Cowell’s images connect the viewer with both the real and imagined rites of feminine transition and the creative realm of dream and fantasy. Themes of impermanence also emerge via the seemingly endless, inky blackness that envelops her forms. Inspired by period costume and the hidden meanings often associated with women’s status, life experiences and how they shroud themselves, ideas of mortality, youth and decay also surface.

‘I’ve been looking at elements common to those things considered beautiful in nature; proportion, symmetry clarity, harmony and colour. I like the idea that each garment has a mood and an emotion which can be representative of a feeling or state. I think an image is successful when it shows metamorphosis. Good images require a kind of imaginative collaboration from the viewer to interpret what they are seeing.’
Meg Cowell

'Cowell’s work is undoubtedly beautiful as any star-filled night, but within that beauty lies a subtle sense of menace. Somehow, as we gaze at the luminous glory of these delicate frocks, we feel uneasy - as though we might perhaps be looking at death in a ball gown. The works are lush with rococo splendour – the pastel satins of the gowns are trapped in an eternal, graceful dance. They are romantic images that call to mind candle-lit soirees of Belle Époque elegance; and yet the decadent silks begin to dissipate into smoke at their edges, becoming unreal, immaterial; like Cinderella’s carriage, the façade of beauty is a temporary glamour that quickly evaporates in the light of dawn - or in this case, into the infinite black void.'
Excerpt of exhibition essay by by Eric Henshall, 2020

ARTIST PROFILE:
Cowell graduated with Honours in Photography from the University of Tasmania in 2007, and has gone on to exhibit nationally and abroad. She has been a finalist in the Manning Art Prize (2015), Sunshine Coast Art Prize (2015), Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Award (2013) and has undertaken residencies at the Red Gate Galley, Beijing (2016) and in Rome through the Helpmann Acadamy (2012). Her work is held in collections nationally and internationally including City of Prospect Art Collection, Arts SA, and the University of Western Sydney.

All photographs are framed with anti-reflection picture framing glass with Conservation Grade 99% UV Protection.

DOWNLOAD BIO / CV (PDF)

JOIN PREVIEW LIST

Media Highlights

Undercurrent 2021
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Forest Moon 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Snowbird 2020
archival photographic print, edition of 5
128cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Magnolia 1 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Child of Silence 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Plenty 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Eventide 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Iris 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Spring 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Solstice 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Before I Sleep 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Evenstar 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Wreath 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 25
69cm x 103cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Nocturne 2020
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Winter Moon 2019
archival photographic print
ed of 5 + 2APs
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

The Swing 2019
archival photographic print
ed of 5 + 2APs
128cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Endless Love 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 5
128cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

After The Rain 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Harvest 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Peony Rose #3 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 25
105cm x 69cm
In gallery stockroom
$1,300 AUD

Yellow Rose 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Deep Space 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 5
133cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
Framed size 140 x 99cm
In gallery stockroom
$2,700 AUD

Blush 2018
archival photographic prints, ed of 5
133cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
Framed size 140 x 99cm
In gallery stockroom
$2,700 AUD

Night Thoughts 2 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
Framed size 110 x 76cm
In gallery stockroom
$1,300 AUD

The River 2018
archival photographic print, ed of 5
133cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
Framed size 140 x 99cm
In gallery stockroom
$2,700 AUD

Magnolia 2 2017
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

White Chalk II 2017
archival photographic prints, ed of 5
100cm x 66cm
In gallery stockroom
$1,300 AUD

Flume II 2017
archival photopraphic prints, ed of 5
100cm x 66cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Isis The Throne II 2017
archival photographic prints, ed of 5
100cm x 66cm
In gallery stockroom
$1,300 AUD

Summer Rose 2017
archival photographic print, ed of 25
103cm x 69cm
In Artist's studio
$1,300 AUD

Leda 2014
giclee print on archival paper
ed of 5 and 2APs
133cm x 92cm
Framed with Ultravue UV protect non reflective glass
Framed size 140 x 99cm
In gallery stockroom
$2,700 AUD

Isis (The Throne) 2014
giclee print on archival paper, 2 of 5 ed available
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Big City Lights 2014
giclee print on archival paper, ed of 5
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

The Sea, The Shore 2014
giclee print on archival paper, ed of 5
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

We Come in Threes 2014
giclee print on archival paper, ed of 5
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

There is a Bluebird in my Heart 2014
giclee print on paper, ed of 5 - only 2 APs remaining
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Flume 2014
giclee print on archival paper, 3 of 5 editions available
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Night Garden 2014
giclee print on archival paper, ed of 5
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

The Mast 2014
giclee print on paper, ed of 5
100cm x 66cm
In gallery stockroom
$1,300 AUD

The Shallows 2014
giclee print on archival paper, 4 of 5 editions available
133cm x 92cm
In Artist's studio
$2,700 AUD

Wynn 2013
Giclee print, 1 framed edition remaining
133cm x 92cm
In gallery stockroom
$2,500 AUD

Tidal 2013
giclee print on paper,
AP ONLY AVAILABLE
100cm x 66cm
In gallery stockroom
$1,300 AUD