May 10, 2011
artist doctor lisa cooper
Recently I profiled photographer Harold David, and his weekend home. It was as part of a feature written and styled for Inside Out magazine by artist Doctor Lisa Cooper. She has worked as a florist (at Grandiflora) and jewellery designer (under the name The Butcher's Daughter). She was commissioned by the Sydney Theatre Company to create crowns for a production of War of the roses, starring Cate Blanchett. Lisa has completed a PhD in video art at Sydney's College of Fine Arts, and is currently working on a body of work that incorporates gold, pictured above.
How did you get your career start and what path have you taken since? I had a father (the butcher) who could think and imagine beyond his own experience then I met a boy who could paint, then a boy who could sculpt, then a girl who could. All of the loves have been tangled up in my ‘education’. Then there was my formal education in art that culminated in a doctorate last year. I have worked in artisan environments, a florist and a bakery – no less an education than my academic one. I’m in the post-doctoral bend of the path this year... I’m working on a new art project and dabbling in flora and image making for the magazine medium... and gold wings and gold thorns...
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? I’ve always admired the business ones, the realists, the ones with property portfolios and real jobs. I’ve learnt with absolute certainty that I’m not one of those. And I’m good with that now. I wasn’t always.
What’s your proudest career achievement? Autonomy.
What’s been your best decision? To dedicate myself to my own practice.
Who inspires you? Saint Therese of Liseux (the little flower).
What are you passionate about? Gold. More like obsessed.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Its a tie: Saint Therese of Liseux (the little flower) and Antonin Artaud and Constance Spry.
What dream do you still want to fulfil? Oh God, so many... I want to grow long hair, like Amish long.
What are you reading? Susan Sontag: Reborn.
images courtesy of doctor lisa cooper, sydney theatre company (#3), inside out & sharyn cairns (#4) and harold david (portrait)