We were lucky to catch up with Cathy Cooper recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cathy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I am a Learn By Doing sort of artist. Even though I have a shitload of technical training, there have been numerous times when I have been met with a project where I just have to imagine my way to a solution and have confidence that my skills will get me through.

I worked with a dance collective called WIFE a few years back. They were forming a piece that was based on Bunraku puppetry. They hired me to create costumes for them that could work as individual film screens while appearing to be string pulled puppets. All this and choreography. It ended up kinda like a physics project because of the added movement. Oh …..and every dance member ( 3 in all ) were contained in their own large box, with strings attached.

It was a lot of finagling but it worked out…. Majestically
It’s all about watching, listening and action.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a sculptor, primarily. After art school/college, I moved to Los Angeles and worked as bartender and pieced together illustration jobs.
And of course I went out a lot. One night I was hanging out a bar downtown. Als Bar. A friend of mine told me about director he worked with. The guy was looking to hire a costume designer to create the characters for a play he was going to present soon. I had no experience but what the f*ck why not try.
I met with the guy. We clicked and I got the job.
The director: John Cassavetes (If you don’t know who he is you better find out)
And that is how I started a costume designer.

What I do the best is commit to an idea, a project, a collaboration. I see it through until it manifests and becomes greater than what I dreamed it to be.
I LOVE it when the work comes alive!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My Ideas are not necessarily the ones that will work. And it’s always about what will work.

I learned this through MUCH collaboration with other artists and musicians
simple as that

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Well, I think ALL galleries need to do more studio visits. Sometimes I find gallerists a little lazy in that respect.
Just get in the car and go meet an artist in their environment
See that artist’s work.
One on one.

Contact Info:

• Website: cathycooper.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blantonia
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheGreatSadness
• Other: https://cathycooper.bandcamp.com https://thegreatsadness.bandcamp.com