Shoshana Cooper was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1958, raised in Hamden, Connecticut and majored in Judaic Studies and Sociology at Brandeis University. Since 1986, she has been working for the New York City Transit Authority, where she is now the Director of Operations Analysis.

In 1990, at age 31, Shoshana decided to enroll in a continuing education class at Pratt Manhattan in Oil Painting. This class showed her art would soon become her obsession in life. She began studying at the Art Students League, where she found a supportive environment. Her teachers at the League included the late John Hultburg, a former student of Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still and Richard Diebenkorn and with Fred Mitchell, a native of Meridian, Mississippi, who was one of the pioneers at Coentes Slip in lower Manhattan with Ellsworth Kelly and Agnes Martin.

I started painting, at first using oil paints, in the winter of 1990. Later, I tried acrylic paint which I found offered greater flexibility. As my work evolved, I began to abstract from the world around me while maintaining some figurative elements.

In November 1996, after seeing the Jasper Johns show at the Museum of Modern Art, I became intrigued by several of Johns lesser known works which were labeled as acrylic on plastic and ink on plastic. Since I was already using acrylic paint by that time, I decided to try using a clear polyester film that is very similar to mylar. Immediately, I found that the paint moved more easily as it was applied and when I turned the work over to the opposite side, I discovered that the color was much more intense.

I have since developed my technique so that the reverse side (the unpainted side) is always my finished product, although some paintings could have both sides displayed. The results have been quite striking, although there is very little resemblance to the Johns works that originally inspired me. I found that one of the most effective ways to display these pieces was to mount them on Plexiglas, which led me to paint directly on Plexiglas.

I continue to experiment with new methods of applying and removing paint to create varied effects. Color remains an important element in my work while I am attempting to develop what I call flat texture, the varied effects on the very flat reverse side of the plastic. I strive to make each work fresh and unique while maintaining continuity of style.

Shoshana Cooper Artworks

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