Emma Cousin is a painter and draughtsman using the human body to explore the ways in which human experience, relationships and communication between the self and others are structured. She is interested in exploring the normative tensions within contemporary society and theories of the post-human body, employing a darkly comic parade of female and androgynous characters to embody these positions. She extends this, using her own body to understand movement, sensation and limitation. Her works respond to the restrictions and humour of language, using ideation to explore meaning and articulate both the complexities of human experience and emotions in order to consider how we might interact without it.
Drawing is foundational for Cousin, who often uses a colloquial phrase or saying as a starting point for works on paper before turning to paint. A Helping Hand, a new drawing made specifically for Whitechapel Gallery, shows three interconnected figures with sinuous arms, enlarged hands and carnivalesque faces. As is typical of Cousin’s work, here the gesture is emphasised – coloured-in with pencils and Tipp-Ex, each hand is highly charged. Cousin’s work is often double-edged. Hands, in this instance, may be helping as the title suggests, but also threatening, aggressive, prodding.
'I draw all the time, to work things out, to understand things and to think through experiences or feelings. Words often trigger drawings. I’m interested in the economy and directness of line and how to bring the life of the drawing into the painting, like combining two languages.'
—Emma Cousin
Emma Cousin (b.1986) gained her BA from The Ruskin School of Art in 2004-2007. Recent solo exhibitions include Niru Ratnam (2021); White Cube, London (2021); Goldsmiths CCA, London (2020); Milton Keynes Art Centre, UK (2019); Lewisham Arthouse, London (2018); and Dolph Projects, London (2017). Recent group exhibitions include Soft Bodies, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, UK (2020); Jerwood Arts exhibition Survey at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK and G39, Cardiff, UK (2019); Ridiculous, Elephant West, London (2020); and Ultra, J Hammond Projects, London (2019).
Description
Image: Damian Griffiths
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signed, titled and dated 'Emma Cousin A Helping Hand. 2022' lower right pen, pencil and Tipp-Ex on paper 30.5 x 22.8 cm (12 x 8 7/8 in.) Executed in 2022.