Tilly Cooke

Tilly Cooke

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Degree: Fine Art
University: Aberystwyth University
Graduation Year: 2024

New Blood Art Commentary

Aberystwyth graduate Tilly Cooke creates paintings that celebrate the quiet yet profound relationships she shares with the women closest to her, finding beauty in the simplicity of everyday routines. Her work explores themes of self, identity, and the intimate connection between artist and subject, delving into deeply personal and private landscapes. Cooke nurtures her portraits through a smooth, layered application of oil paint mixed with linseed oil, crafting a rich, glistening surface that invites the viewer in.

Her intensely observed studies strip the feminine form of its traditional sensuality, instead focusing on a delicate, understated intimacy. The resulting paintings are peaceful and honest, drawing the viewer into a space that feels both personal and universally familiar.

In her most recent series, Cooke shifts her focus to swimmers and the act of bathing, although she has also explored other themes, such as the vulnerability of people sleeping. Through these works, she elevates the pool to a near-mythological realm, using paint as a metaphor for water’s fluid and transformative nature.

Artist Statement

My paintings are a celebration of my precious binary relationships with the close women in my life and speak of the beauty in simple mundane routines. They explore themes of the self, identity and connecting with the sitter in deeply private and interior landscapes. I nurture a soft and compelling portrait through a smooth and layered application of oil paint with linseed oil. These fleshy, intensely realised observed studies strip the feminine form of its sensuality and accentuate the physicality of my compositions. These paintings are open, raw and uncomfortable in their honesty. They allow you in but don't welcome you to stay. Recently, my work has delved into portraying swimmers and bathing to highlight the transcending experience of water and my paint as a figuration of this watery medium to almost mythologise the pool.

Exhibitions