Royal Academician Eileen Cooper makes paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures that celebrate the female form in a bold, distinctive style. Dynamic and flowing, her figures are often pictured in motion, bending their bodies into different shapes; dancing, painting, contemplating themselves in the mirror, or interacting with nature and each other.

Autobiography is a constant thread that runs through Cooper’s imagery; her works refer to the meshing of her career as an artist with her life as a mother. Aside from drawing upon her own experience, a diverse range of historical references informs Cooper’s pictures, often resulting in dream-like imagery. Mythology, fairy-tales, bible stories and early special effects movies are some of her inspirations.

A prolific printmaker, Cooper has a deep-rooted interest in the making processes, and still experiments with new methods and mediums. This new large-scale painting, characteristically richly coloured, embodies this interest by referencing a specific technique that has been used in China for over 800 years. In Cooper’s words, ‘Indigo came from a conversation about artisanal resist printing on fabric, a process which left the families who produce the cloth, blue handed. I love the depth and range of the colour Indigo and the passion in the ancient ways of production’.

Cooper has taught at art schools in London including St. Martin’s, City and Guilds and the Royal Academy of Arts, where she was elected an Academician in 2000. From 2010 – 17 Cooper served as Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools; the first woman to be elected in this role. She has exhibited internationally and her work is held in many public collections including the British Museum, Dallas Museum of Art and Yale University. She lives and works in London.