Eileen Cooper RA: Collages

About

In this exhibition, Eileen Cooper shows a previously unseen group of new works on paper. Best known for her vibrant and distinctive figurative paintings and prints, these unique collages represent something of a departure for Cooper; it is the first time she has exhibited works of this nature. These collages share an experimental quality, linking together Cooper's experience as a painter and printmaker. Many of the themes explored throughout her career are represented and the playful imagery is steeped in narrative and mythological ideas. Less familiar is the juxtaposition of materials including paint, fragments of drawings, linocut prints and Japanese papers. Cooper's recent residency in Alayrac, southern France, has inspired the smaller works infusing them with warmth, colour and architecture evocative of the area. These deceptively simple compositions use recurring motifs including silhouetted figures, pottery, trees, fluttering doves, pillars and archways. The larger collages create a sense of drama in different ways. Some use a bolder palette familiar from Cooper's paintings; others, intriguingly, have an uncharacteristic sparseness.