bio and about the artist cynthia y cooper

Cynthia Cooper is a visual artist whose paintings use pattern, repetition and mathematics to create immersive works of art. Embracing contradictions, Cooper mixes straight lines and curves, uses ordered systems with additions of randomness, and contrasts solidity with motion to form compositions that vibrate with tension. Though each line retains its clarity and strength at any distance, an up close reading of her surfaces reveals that these works are unmistakably done by hand. Dissolving pencil marks and gently wavering borders invite an intimacy that invites viewers to be present.

Recent works employ shaped panels that Cooper assembles into varying constructions inspired by forms, color and graphic motifs of insects in nature as well as physical and mental spaces. Earlier work in her pools series engages this sense of immersion and freedom, while existing in both the figurative and abstract realms. Other series provide aesthetic patterns and only reveal deeper references after spending more time with them.

While her works reflect her interest in mathematics, color theory, branding and advertising, nature and current world situations, Cooper embraces wide reactions and interpretations and encourages an array of responses. The light-drenched work of joyful curves burst outward with exuberant color resulting in paintings that are calm and meditative and also evoke optimism and transcendence.