[Montana Cooke](https://www.cohart.com/montanacooke/profile/) is a London-based mixed media painter whose work explores the messy, emotional, and dreamlike spaces of the subconscious. Her layered, textured pieces use acrylic, pastel, charcoal, pen, and oil bars to create raw, intuitive, free-flowing compositions. Cooke’s process is physical and instinctive, embracing imperfection through bold brushwork and expressive marks. Figures often surface, expressing tension, softness, or vulnerability in her pieces. While generally upbeat, she’s open about her struggles with intense PMS, and uses it as a creative tool to fuel her work. Allowing painting to becomes a space to transform anxieties, memories, and imagined moments into visual stories that celebrate the beauty of her existence. A Falmouth graduate, she has shown at No.20 Arts, Brick Lane Gallery, and The London Lighthouse Gallery. Cooke was a 2023 finalist for the Circle Arts Miami Award and has recently exhibited with Galleria Objects and Visionary Projects, 2025.

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 #### Tell us about yourself and your artistic journey.

I grew up just outside London, surrounded by the countryside, and spent a lot of my childhood in Cornwall. That connection to the area made choosing Falmouth University feel like a natural step. I initially studied Interior Design, but when Covid hit and life slowed down, I finally had the space to return to painting. That pause was a real turning point for me; it made me realise that art was what I truly wanted to pursue. So, when we returned to university, I switched to Fine Art.

Coming back to painting felt effortless, almost like reconnecting with a part of myself I’d left behind. Being an artist has always been central to who I am, and I know it will remain that way, whether it becomes my full-time career or continues as a personal outlet for expression.

After graduating, I moved to London. Having grown up nearby, the city wasn’t completely unfamiliar, but the fast pace has taught me how important it is to step away at times, slow down, and create space to reflect. Since leaving uni, I haven’t had a studio, which has pushed me to scale down my work. In some ways, that’s been freeing as it’s made me more mobile and open to creating in new and unexpected places. Recently, I’ve spent time in Barcelona. Most of my days there were spent painting, and slowly I started to build connections. This new environment had an impact on my work and that change is something I want to keep seeking out in my artistic journey: change, movement, and fresh perspectives.


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Alongside painting, I also work as a fashion stylist. Balancing the two practices has been really important for me. Having both painting and styling in my life means I’m always creating in some form. When I step away from painting, I’m still exploring ideas and expressing myself through styling, and when I take a break from styling, I can fully immerse myself in painting. Switching between the two keeps me from getting stuck which is vital to my process. Each practice challenges me in different ways, and together they give me balance.


#### What first drew you to making art?

For as long as I can remember, I was always drawing in my free time. I’m dyslexic and really struggled with school, but art was different. It was the one thing that came naturally and never felt forced.

I started developing my artistic style during my time at Falmouth. Being surrounded by other artists, all working in such different ways, opened my perspective and influenced my practice. Painting stopped being just something I could do—it became a way to express myself.


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#### What inspires your work?
I’m inspired by many artists, but Jordy Kerwick, Magnus Reid, and Ed Burkes have shaped my practice the most.

I first came across Kerwick’s work in London, early in my own journey. His bold, chaotic textures and mythological figures had this dreamlike energy that pushed me to be braver, especially with scale and texture.

Magnus Reid’s use of repetition and symbols also really resonates with me. The doubling and tripling of forms creates tension that’s both energetic and meditative, something I’ve started to explore in my own work.

Ed Burkes was actually the first artist I collected. I love not just his work but also his process, he works so freely, leaving visible traces of mistakes. Understanding that imperfections aren’t failures; they’re part of the language. Reworking, layering, and scribbling out are often the moments that make a piece honest and alive.


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#### What makes your artistic approach unique?

My work is expressive, messy, bold, and vulnerable. I paint a lot of people, but never in a perfect or polished way. They’re often distorted, awkward, and repeated across the canvas. In many ways, my work acts as a mirror. I believe there are fragments of personal feelings and quiet pieces of myself living inside these paintings. It’s my truest form of expression. I’m not trying to make things perfect, or to please anyone else. When it comes to my style, I paint for myself, with the simple intention to be honest.

I paint using a mix of mediums: acrylic paint, pastels, charcoal, pen, oil bars, anything that lets me work quickly and freely. Combining these materials gives a sense of texture and tactility to each of my pieces. I don’t like to overthink the process; I prefer to move freely, make mistakes, paint over them, cut things up, rearrange and layer. Most of my works are unpredictable in the process, sometimes the result is nothing like what I envisioned. I think it helps keep the painting alive and full of my own personality.


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 #### What do you hope people feel or think when they see your work?
 People often tell me they see a kind of sadness or emotional weight in my work. And while I’m generally an upbeat person, I do struggle with PMS. Each month brings a wave of overthinking, self-doubt. It’s not easy, but strangely, that’s when I create some of my most honest and powerful work. I’ve learned to lean into those moments rather than resist them. There’s something meaningful in turning that intensity into something visually truthful, even if it comes from a difficult place.

That said, there’s more to my work than just moments of emotional intensity. But I don’t always feel the need or the desire to explain it. My art is personal. It holds thoughts and feelings I’m still navigating, or not yet ready to put into words.





I often find it difficult to talk about my work. When people ask, “What’s it about?” or “Why did you paint this?”, I rarely begin with a concept, my emotions take the lead, finding their way onto the canvas before I’ve fully understood them myself. Often, it’s only after a piece is finished that I begin to uncover its meaning.

I didn’t start painting with the intent to explain it to the world. For me, it’s always been more about expression than explanation, about releasing and conveying feelings in a way that can't be achieved with words. 


#### What excites you most about where your art is headed?

The fact that I have no clue what’s in store is what excites me most. Not knowing what’s around the corner pushes me to keep exploring. It’s definitely an emotional rollercoaster, full of joy, stress, highs, and lows, but it’s exactly that unpredictability that keeps me inspired.



Spotlight: Montana Cooke on the Journey Through the Realm of Emotions and Textures

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