Chris Design Art

What do we know about Woman? Who is she? What is there behind her beautiful body?

Marco Cochrane gives us the answer of these questions through his unique works of art, impressive works showing the beauty of the female body and revealing the woman’s soul and spirit.

The Bliss Project is a trilogy of sculptures called The Bliss Project- Deja Solis – average 13-17 high. Bliss Dance – the first sculpture of the trilogy was installed in Treasure Island in San Francisco in 2011. Truth is Beauty is the second sculpture of the project and was finished in August 2013. R-evolution is the sculpture and will be finished later. The project was sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a non-profit company serving the arts community, and also by other campaigns for raising funds and donations.

Marco Cochrane’s mission and aim in The Bliss Project – Bliss Dance, Truth is Beauty and R-evolution, is to reveal the truth about women and thus through his sculptures women’s voice to be heard in a hostile and cruel world, a world where men’s voice is still dominant. His art focuses on changing the social attitudes and sparking a movement to end violence against women. His works provoke us to respect and appreciate female secret energy and power and to work together to create a better and safer world where women can feel safe and express their nature freely.

Truth is Beauty– The Guardian of Beauty, Truth and Good

Truth gives birth to beauty
Truth is everywhere in the universe
Truth is inside us
Truth gives us strengths to be ourselves
Truth leads us towards our dreams
Truth shows us our mission
Truth makes us love ourselves and others
Truth makes us love what we do

All of his three sculptures are gigantic versions of FEELINGS and of what is hidden behind the physical female beauty. They express feelings, sensibility and inner sense of safety in a better world for women, where women can feel protected from violence, men’s aggression, sexual abuse and maltreatment.

Marco Cochrane believes that artists can change our attitudes toward the world.

The Woman is beautiful but she is often surrounded by treachery and ugliness.
The Woman is a source of tenderness and love but her world is full of rudeness and violence.
The Woman gives love and warmth but sometimes what men give to her is hatred and cruelty.
The Woman has a body of goddess but it is used for commercialized sexual gratification.

Marco Cochrane’s sculptures reveal the Woman who is strong and believes in herself. His sculptures make us admire and appreciate her qualities, respect and value her. Through combination of material and light, size and exposition, his works of art affect us deeply and we do not need words to feel the physical presence and the soul and the spirit of a woman as well. The artist wants to make us see the purity of her soul and her innocence that have disappeared from our perception in the minds of most of us. and make us see the evil, that has taken their place and is a source of sexual abuse and violence against women.

Marco Cochrane was born in 1962 in Venice, Italy in a family of Italian artists. He grew up in California in the time of political and cultural movements. A horrific incident of sexual abuse happened when he was a 7-year old boy. The victim was his best friend, a 9 -year old girl. and that incident changed his view on women’s place and role in our world and strongly affected all his works of art. He never forgot that incident and that was the beginning of The Bliss Project. As a husband and father he asks himself one question all the time – WHY…. and whether the man who raped the girl would have done it if he had seen not just her body but her soul? How many other victims of sexual abuse like that one are there in our world? Why our perception of female body has changed chained in our ugly perception of the woman as an object, why not as a human being?

That is why his aim in his work is to reveal the woman as a human being who is not afraid and who wants to show her strength and spirit, who is willing to be herself and who feels safe in a world full of danger. His works of art show the modern woman, her revolutionary spirit, her energy and bring out their healing energy. They inspire us to start immediate actions and just say no to sexual abuse against women.

Marco Cochrane realized that sculpture art was his calling when he was 24. Although he had decided not to follow the artistic traditions in his family and search professional realization as an artist because he knew it is a hard life and there is no money, he found out his talent and skills by accident. While he was working at a shop building amusement park rides he told a co-worker that the dolphin, part of one of the rides, was pretty bad. His co-worker challenged him and asked him if he could make a better one. Marco embraced the challenge and it put the beginning of his career in sculpture.

Through women’s bodies that he creates, the artist aims at revealing female nature and feelings, empowering women to change their perception of themselves and how they look to other people, making women start loving and understanding themselves. The artist believes that his views, embodied in his works of art, will change the way the world treat women and will really make women feel and realize their strength and role in our world.

Marco Cochrane says that he believes in the power of universe and listens to his inner voice and intuition because he knows that this is the only way for someone who wants to fulfill his aims. He says: “Call it magic, the universe, what ever you want. It does work. But you must go for it, be true to yourself. Truth is Beauty.”

What can we see?
What can’t we see?

His art gives us the answers to these questions. Can we see behind the physical material of the works of art the light, brought by the artist on the dark side of life? Can we see the human soul there inside the artist’s works?

Marco Cochrane believes that female energy and strength cannot be expressed simply through words – They are what keep the balance in universe. His sculptures are understood and appreciated by the public and they can change the way we view the universe. He says:” Art can illuminate the human condition and be a catalyst to social change ...it can foment revolution and, with your help, art can help change human consciousness around violence against women and begin a healing process that will make room for women’s voices! I am asking you to stand with us!”

The sculpture Truth is Beauty is 17 metres/55 feet/ tall and weighs 3 tons/7,000 pounds/. Its construction includes:

• 55,000 single welds
• 7620 metres/ 25,000 feet of steel rod and pipe
• 6,500 steel ball connection points
• 610 square metres /2,000 square feet of stainless steel mesh

What is more, 1,500individual multi-colour LED lights are installed on the body of the sculpture for a spectacular light show to enhance its visual effect and experience.