About

Melissa Cooke is a young, up-and-coming player on the international art scene. Her powdered graphite on paper works explore themes of beauty, fantasy, violence, and identity, with the artist casting herself as subject in a myriad of thematic scenarios. Her work confronts the viewer, both with scale and stirring reflections of relationships, sexuality and gender. Her drawings are attracting attention from major art galleries, museums and collectors in Chicago, LA and NYC. Cooke is represented by Koplin Del Rio in Los Angeles, CA and Jenkins Johnson Gallery in New York, NY. Her work has been exhibited in "The Wisconsin Triennial" at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, “To See Ourselves As Others See Us” at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, "On Paper" at the Jenkins Johnson Gallery in New York, and "West Coast Drawings VIII" at the Davidson Galleries in Seattle, Washington, The Miami Art Fair, The LA Art Show and PULSE Contemporary Art Fair in New York. Cooke's first major solo show "You Know Me Better Than I Know Myself" was exhibited at Koplin Del Rio in 2010. Cooke's drawings are in collections such as the Arkansas Art Center, the Howard Tullman Collection, the Wisconsin Union Permanent Art Collection, the Boston Public Library Print Collection, and the Southern Graphics Council Print Collection. Her work was also featured as an Editor's Selection in the latest edition of New American Painting, #89.

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March 7, 2011
in drawing process studio graphite
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THE PROCESSMy drawings are made by dusting thin layers of graphite onto paper with a dry brush.   The softness of the graphite provides a smooth surface that can be augmented with details by erasing.  No pencils are used in the work, allowing the surface to glow without the shine of heavy pencil marks.  Illusion dissolves into brush work and the honesty of the material. The scale of the drawings demands a physical interaction with the work.  I traverse a path, back and forth, first to work intimately with the surface and then to see the piece from a distance.  This dance with my drawing has become a ritual, and ultimately, a release.  Melissa Cooke

THE PROCESS

My drawings are made by dusting thin layers of graphite onto paper with a dry brush.   The softness of the graphite provides a smooth surface that can be augmented with details by erasing.  No pencils are used in the work, allowing the surface to glow without the shine of heavy pencil marks.  Illusion dissolves into brush work and the honesty of the material.

The scale of the drawings demands a physical interaction with the work.  I traverse a path, back and forth, first to work intimately with the surface and then to see the piece from a distance.  This dance with my drawing has become a ritual, and ultimately, a release. 

Melissa Cooke

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    SO MUCH LOVE FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO.
  8. indubitability said: if anyone hasn’t told you in a while, you’re amazing.
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