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lisa cooperman

I am a studio artist, educator, and curator whose goal is to make art matter to more
people. My studio practice is rooted in the discovery of form through material exploration; engagement in the informal classroom is grounded in the belief that the meaningful art experiences are available to everyone. 

 

Most of my work is wall-hung textile sculpture. The influence of place, a love of materiality, and craftsmanship are sewn and folded into funny, strange visual metaphors. I work almost exclusively with found, gifted, and recycled material selected for formal appeal and the meanings associated with its original use. I never know exactly what will happen as each body of work is the result of grappling with new materials. The pieces are also human scaled, relating them to the body as a site of need, tribulation, vanity, mystery, and joy. 

 

In many ways this work is about the instability of narratives and the welter of feelings they produce, but it also centralizes the pleasure of discovery present in the act of making. My      aim is to land in the place between stuff and story, to find a sweet seam and stitch it to pieces.

selected exhibitions

2023        Earth, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA 

                 Immigrant Centuries, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

                Slice, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA

                Turning Basin, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, solo

2022        My Body/My Choice, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn

2021        25 Million Stitches: One Stitch, One Refugee, Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento

               15 Years, Grand Center, Tracy, CA

2020        Wish you were here, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

                Going 2 Ground: Faculty Creativity in Quarantine, University of the Pacific, virtual

2019        Uplift: Celebrating the Sierra Nevada, Arts Benicia, CA

2018        Manic Episode 6, invitational, Urban Hive, Sacramento, CA

                Slice, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA

                Haptics, happylucky no. 1, New York

                Material, D'Art Center, Norfolk, VA

2017        Baize, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, solo

                Through Lines, Faculty Exhibition, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific

                Wish you were here, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn

2016        Flesh Anew, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ

                The Feminist Sex Shoppe, On the Ground Floor, Los Angeles 

2015        Old Enough to Know Better, Philadelphia Women's Caucus for Art 
 

selected curatorial projects

2022       13%, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific

2021        Dreaming of Equ>lity, virtual, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific

2020        Gone Viral, virtual student exhibition

2019        Women on the Edge: Art from the Permanent Collection, University of the Pacific

                Life's Track: Richard Yip Centenary, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific

                 Mucho Caramelo: Paul Valadez, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific

2018        Golden Eye: Art from the Robert & Jeannette Powell Collection                          

               The Revolution Will Be DIY, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific

2017        Larry Walker: Probe, University of the Pacific

2015        Picasso, Miró & Hawaii Five-0: Prints from the Jack Lord Collection, Haggin Museum 

2014        Fortunes & Family, Haggin Museum

experience

2002 - present            A.I.R. Gallery, national & alumni member

2019 - present           University Curator, Assistant Professor

                                     University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA

2017 - present           University Curator

                                   University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA

2006 - 2017                Curator of Education, the Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA

2006                            Museum Educator, the Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA

2010 - 2016                 Visiting Assistant Professor, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA

2000 - 2009                 Visiting Lecturer, Department of Visual Art, University of the Pacific 

education

MFA, Sculpture & Metalsmithing, Montana State University

BA, magna cum laude, English Literature, Bowdoin College

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