Jim Cooper
Dunedin artist Jim Cooper’s ceramic sculptures push clay to its absolute limits while adhering to and confirming his fine art intent.
Dunedin artist Jim Cooper's ceramic sculptures push clay to its
absolute limits while adhering to and confirming his fine art
intent. Jim has an MFA in ceramics and until recently, he taught at
Otago Polytech. Jim is now concentrating on his art making full
time because his installations typically include more than 100
pieces with the largest, Peppermints and Incense, having
1000 individual pieces. The installations of figures with colourful
glazes are the result of more than 20 years of refinement, during
which Jim has been experimenting with modelling clay, firing
techniques and glazes. Sgt P, Peppermints and
Incense, and Its All Too Beautiful are responses to
the record covers from the psychedelic era of the 1960s and 70s.
Jim's re-imagining of album covers celebrate the hand-made with
vigorously modelled figurative works. The challenges inherent in
constructing these figurative works contradict the casual and
playful essence of Jim's installations and attest to Jim's skill
and determination to continually reconstruct our understanding of
'ceramics' by developing fresh and dynamic narrative
installations.
Jim's work received notable attention when Snowy from
Cavy, an angstful cat, won the Supreme Award of the Norsewear
Awards in 2006. Jim's installation Sgt P toured major
museums and he has held solo exhibitions throughout including
Peppermints and Incense exhibited at the Dunedin Public
Art Gallery in 2008.
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