S/PLI/T: You received your BFA in textiles from RISD in 2015, and have been living in Portland for the past two years. How do you find the art community is different, both between being in school and out of school, and between Providence and Portland?
Chloe Cooper: While in school, the art community revolved so much around sharing a studio space with other artists. This was great for discussing ideas and working next to each other and hearing constant feedback. Because of the high work load, I mostly stayed in the RISD art community, seeing other student’s work at gallery openings or open studios.
When I came to Portland, it was hard to find the art community because I was new to the area. Once I started meeting more people and knew where to look, I saw that Portland may be small but there are a lot of artistic communities and continuous happenings.
S/: Do you view your knit works as 2D or 3D?
CC: I view knitting as a sculptural medium. I can manipulate the material to act more two dimensional by stretching or forming it around a surface, but it still has depth and shadow.
S/: How do you navigate the space between abstract, figural, and material in your work?
CC: I sometimes use figural forms as reference for creating my sculptural work. The nature of the material that I use further abstracts the figure. If I am not representing the physical body, I am trying to capture the performance and movement of the body. I think this combination creates a nice balance of interpretation and materiality.
S/: You share a studio space with your artist/partner. Hiro Toyo, and you have recently been making some wonderful collaborative work together. How do you find sharing work space with your partner affects your practice, both in the content of your work, and in your studio habits?
CC: It has been great to share working space with Hiro, we constantly bounce ideas back and forth, inspiring each other. I think we both keep each other motivated to continue creating and push our ideas and artwork with constructive critiques. Having an art practice is important to both of us so we are very supportive of each other.
S/: What does feminism mean to you?
CC: To me, feminism means understanding and accepting others, acknowledging oppression and privilege, and focusing on equality for everyone.
S/: What is inspiring your practice right now?
CC: Right now I have been reading a lot. I have been interested in psychology and art therapy, which has been very inspiring for my own art practice. I go in waves of reading and writing to sculpturally creating. I have also been inspired by the performance and movement of my own body. I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and have been trying to understand how my own body moves and performs in space.
S:/ What’s next for you?
CC: I will continue to learn, work hard, and create. I will also be part of the Night Lights Residency program with Open Signal, collaborating with Amy Chiao. It will be on view in April 2018!
Chloe Cooper: While in school, the art community revolved so much around sharing a studio space with other artists. This was great for discussing ideas and working next to each other and hearing constant feedback. Because of the high work load, I mostly stayed in the RISD art community, seeing other student’s work at gallery openings or open studios.
When I came to Portland, it was hard to find the art community because I was new to the area. Once I started meeting more people and knew where to look, I saw that Portland may be small but there are a lot of artistic communities and continuous happenings.
S/: Do you view your knit works as 2D or 3D?
CC: I view knitting as a sculptural medium. I can manipulate the material to act more two dimensional by stretching or forming it around a surface, but it still has depth and shadow.
S/: How do you navigate the space between abstract, figural, and material in your work?
CC: I sometimes use figural forms as reference for creating my sculptural work. The nature of the material that I use further abstracts the figure. If I am not representing the physical body, I am trying to capture the performance and movement of the body. I think this combination creates a nice balance of interpretation and materiality.
S/: You share a studio space with your artist/partner. Hiro Toyo, and you have recently been making some wonderful collaborative work together. How do you find sharing work space with your partner affects your practice, both in the content of your work, and in your studio habits?
CC: It has been great to share working space with Hiro, we constantly bounce ideas back and forth, inspiring each other. I think we both keep each other motivated to continue creating and push our ideas and artwork with constructive critiques. Having an art practice is important to both of us so we are very supportive of each other.
S/: What does feminism mean to you?
CC: To me, feminism means understanding and accepting others, acknowledging oppression and privilege, and focusing on equality for everyone.
S/: What is inspiring your practice right now?
CC: Right now I have been reading a lot. I have been interested in psychology and art therapy, which has been very inspiring for my own art practice. I go in waves of reading and writing to sculpturally creating. I have also been inspired by the performance and movement of my own body. I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and have been trying to understand how my own body moves and performs in space.
S:/ What’s next for you?
CC: I will continue to learn, work hard, and create. I will also be part of the Night Lights Residency program with Open Signal, collaborating with Amy Chiao. It will be on view in April 2018!