Ms. Cochran’s recent work explores the pleasures, absurdities and banalities of daily laboring (be it physical, mental or spiritual) and its symbolic implications. Her transdisciplinary work shape shifts in the forms of sculpture, drawing, video and installation and is often comprised of quotidian materials such as bread, uniform tags, coins, neon signage and copper plumbing—materials used as they relate to the gestures, needs and aspirations of human beings at work. The implications of effort, one's motives behind ‘making a living’, what it means to be ‘on the clock’ and the inability to rest in our cultural climate are topics that have materialized in copper clock ‘fountains’, oversized 'time chimes', post-apocalyptic bake shop displays and racks of cured meats.
Originally from Portland, OR, Ms. Cochran moved to Texas to complete her MFA in sculpture. She has been awarded residencies in New York, Austria, Wyoming and Texas. Kristen has taught extensively at local universities and museums including The University of Texas, Dallas, The Nasher Sculpture Center and The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Recent exhibitions include After Carolee: Tender & Fierce at Artpace, San Antonio, fare well at The Nasher Sculpture Center, chroma soma at Barry Whistler Gallery (Dallas, TX), Fold In at Lawndale Arts Center (Houston, TX) and GOALS at the Stein Galleries (Wright State University, Dayton, OH). She will participate in the NARS Foundation Residency in Brooklyn, NY in 2021.
