Audrey Marnay, the apparent source for Converge's Jane Doe album artwork, had no idea her image had been the face of hardcore for the past 20 years…
Over 20 years since her photo was taken for a May 2001 issue of Italian Marie Claire, model Audrey Marnay has learned that her image was one of the apparent key sources for Converge's iconic Jane Doe album cover (which was released in September of that year).
Taking to Instagram to share her original photo along with the artwork, plus other uses of the image as tattoos and merch, Audrey asks Converge, 'Shall we talk!?' And in the comments @callis1987 writes, 'So you’ve been an icon of hardcore punk for 20 years and never knew??!!' to which she responds, 'Crazy right!?'
Until now, of course, the Jane Doe figure has remained anonymous (which is actually quite appropriate given the meaning of the terms Jane and John Doe), but the band's vocalist, lyricist and graphic artist Jacob Bannon has verified that the French model was indeed "definitely one of the sources for the original stencil/mixed media piece for the Jane Doe album".
Read this: "A revolution in noise": Our original 2001 review of Converge’s Jane Doe
He explains: "Most of my work always been collaged cut/paste based (and still is). Hundreds of images were xeroxed and repainted/inked in a loose style to create the release artwork. This process is similar to everyone from Shepard Fairey to Francis Bacon. Over time my work has evolved into something more much more refined, but the roots will always be in this style. I wonder if folks will still insist that it is actually from the cover of Slayer's Reign In Blood?
"The original goal was to create ghost-like forms that embodied the concept of Jane Doe. In recreation identifiers are removed from physical forms, making all humans become relatable and stoic. We see what we want to see in them, and often times, it's a reflection back onto our own life experiences, etc."
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