Sis Cowie
Sis Cowie’s latest body of work, UTOPIA at OIGÅLL PROJECTS, delves into the dark realities that lurk beneath the thinly-veiled facade of modern-day ‘utopia’. We chat to Sis about her creative journey and how history, literature and religion guide her work.
Photography: Annika Kafcaloudis
‘Sometimes I have regrets about not going to art school and engaging with more artists. However, there is so much inspiration in history,’ says Sis Cowie. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
H&F: Hi Sis – what led you here and how has your journey evolved?
Sis: I come from a creative family. Both my parents are artists – they encouraged art from an early age. Drawing came extremely naturally to me. I had a family friend teach me how to use oil paints when I was around 12 years old. It was by no means formal training, but it was a great jump start into oil painting and armed me with the essential basics. During high school I began to explore my fascination with history and ended up straying from art a little bit. I still did art in VCE and continued to draw and paint, but I was not interested in becoming an artist. I studied history at the University of Melbourne. In 2018, I was a finalist in the Moran Prize, which re-ignited my ideas about painting.
During my honours year in 2020, I realised that I wanted to be a painter. I still don’t know why I was so adverse to being an artist. But I’m glad I woke up when I did. Sometimes I have regrets about not going to art school and engaging with more artists. However, there is so much inspiration in history. My fields of interest were primarily early modern Western Europe and British Isles, examining the connections between visual culture and social, political and economic conditions.
What’s a typical day in the studio entail for you?
I like to get to my studio early, especially in summer as my studio gets very hot. It’s an old women’s locker room, so air conditioning isn’t available. At least my paintings dry fast! I’ll usually paint straight for five hours, then go home. I don’t really stop for breaks unless I’m there for a full day. Once I’m there I will rarely leave. It’s healthier to have breaks… but for some reason I think my mojo will vanish if I stop!
Saying that, I do have bad days. After my last exhibition in May last year, I had three or four months of bad days - it was shocking. Once I’ve finished painting; I go home to draw, planning out paintings and ideas. Or read and write to nut-out a concept. I let my concept drive my paintings. I think the core of the painting should have meaning and purpose. I’m not a fan of post-rationalising – I’ve done that in the past and the paintings are weak and don’t have the same conceptual rigour or vibrancy.
Tell us about your process…
First I’ll work through my ideas – I look to poetry, stories and history. But mainly I look to Christianity – I spent most of my time looking at Christian societies and visual culture at university and love it. Christianity also includes elements such as witches. A book that inspired me for some of the works within this exhibition [UTOPIA at OIGÅLL PROJECTS] is the Malleus Maleficarum. Religion hands you incredible content that you can translate and interpret into the most beautiful art. My art isn’t religious my any means, but it’s inspired by the moral stories within scripture and how these can be applied within today’s society.
From there I’ll do lots of sketches from my head in charcoal and pastel. Once I’m happy with a composition I’ll round up some models - usually my friends. I have such incredible friends, they put up with the weirdest scenarios! One painting in the exhibition is inspired by Robert Browning’s poem Porphyria’s Lover – one friend had to pretend to strangle another friend with her hair, which wasn’t long enough, so I used a scarf. I will take photos and sketches. Sometimes if my model has the time I’ll paint from life, which is my favourite but I rarely get to do it because it takes so long. I also love working from my sketches – it subverts reality and adds an interesting layer of stylisation. The viewer can see the figure through my eyes.
For the final painting I start with an umber underpainting, where I can sketch out the composition. Sometimes this process takes the longest, especially with bigger works. I don’t use grey lead to draw out forms, only paint, the figures look more organic this way. When I use graphite I get too particular about realism and the figures end up looking stiff. It can be stressful because I don’t want the underpainting to dry before I’ve finished drawing. Sometimes I will work wet on wet, other times I will allow the underpainting to dry.
‘I also love working from my sketches – it subverts reality and adds an interesting layer of stylisation. The viewer can see the figure through my eyes,’ says Sis Cowie. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
“Religion hands you incredible content that you can translate and interpret into the most beautiful art. My art isn’t religious by any means, but it’s inspired by the moral stories within scripture and how these can be applied within today’s society.”
What is it about the human form you’re most inspired by in your work?
It’s the most relatable – humans love looking at other humans. I love trying to replicate the form of flesh and the power of emotions. I’m not so much interested in mimesis as what I’m interested in expression - I think this is more realistic, because you’re capturing the essence of someone rather than their didactic physical form. Our physical impressions of people change as we get to know them - we literally see people differently. The image I have in my head of my partner is completely different than the one I had after we had been dating for three months, because I had gotten to know him – he’s super cute either way, but extra cute now!///………
Do you have a favourite medium to work with?
I only paint with oil paint. I’m also fussy about which pigments I use. My favourite pigments are lead white and genuine Chinese Vermillion (mercury) but they are super toxic and I get scared using them often, but they are the best for flesh. I use Michael Harding and Old Holland paints. I use linen canvas. Everything is so expensive – but quality matters for longevity.
What does it mean to be a woman in art?
It doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t think it makes a difference, especially in today’s society. I don’t think about identity politics. I don’t think you have to be female to paint female nudes. The only difference is that I can use myself as a model if I need to, which is super handy.
What are you looking forward to most this year, what’s coming up for you work-wise?
I’m most looking forward to my solo show with OIGÅLL PROJECTS – I was in a group show with them last year and loved working with them. I’m also in a group show with Mars Gallery, which opens on March 2nd. Otherwise I have several portrait commissions in the United States, which I'm excited to do.