J.A.W. Cooper

J.A.W. Cooper was born in England to a South African/British mother and an American father--both freshwater ecologists. She grew up traveling for their research and professor exchanges, living in Kenya, Sweden, Ireland and traveling across Europe. Home base was Southern California between trips, sabbaticals, and longer stays in other countries. Cooper's mother always practiced art, in particular scientific illustration, and from an early age she was eager to learn how to perform the same kind of "magic." Between her parent's dedication to ecology, their extensive traveling, and her mother's skill as an artist Cooper was primed to be fascinated with flora and fauna and obsessed with capturing them in sketches and paintings.

FLESK: What experience do you hope viewers have while looking at your art?

COOPER: It would be outstanding if a collection of small woodland creatures emerged out of the shadows and gently climbed the viewer to rest on their shoulders and lightly groom their hair as they looked at my art. That's an experience I'd personally love to have while viewing anyone's art.

FLESK: I've always been enamored by the elongation of the limbs of some of your animal and figurative drawings, and how elegant and natural they look. Can you share any insight into why or how you began to settle into this style of yours?

COOPER: I like to think of people as just another animal that we have arbitrarily separated from the rest out of a delusional feeling of superiority. The women I draw are often lithe and intense looking, like wild animals. I'm not sure if I always elongate the limbs of my animal drawings but I do like to play with pushing, pulling, and exaggerating the anatomy to support gesture, motion, and composition.

FLESK: What emotion tends to guide your creativity the most?

COOPER: Fear was certainly an enormous motivator for me to make art in the past, even if the art itself did not thematically have anything to do with fear. I've spent the last few years trying to re-wire my sense of self worth so that I'm driven by joy rather than fear but that will probably be a life-long journey.

FLESK: What is your favorite fantasy subject to illustrate?

COOPER: I'd say my work is more "surreal and illustrative" than "fantasy" as I'm not very interested in magical or supernatural things, except as a symbol for something psychological or philosophical. As far as subject matter goes I love including animals in my work symbolically.

FLESK: How has your artistic style changed over the years and where do you see it heading?

COOPER: I'm probably too close to it to see how my style has changed over the years. I've been told that my work this year seems happier and more positive than in previous years despite an increased focus on symbols of death, which I find very interesting.

FLESK: Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to share some information about?

COOPER: I'm working on a solo show that will open at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra in May 2021, as well as a new book with Flesk Publications!

Website: jawcooper.com
Instagram: @jawcooper
Twitter: @JAWCooper_art