Lia Cook (born 1942) is an American fiber artist noted for her work combining weaving with photography, painting, and digital technology.[1] She lives and works in Berkeley, California, and is known for her weavings which expanded the traditional boundaries of textile arts. She has been a professor at California College of the Arts since 1976.[2]
Early life and education
Lia Cook was born November 24, 1942, in Ventura, California[3] to James Paul Polese and Esther Miriam Homan.[2] She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965 and went on to earn a master's degree in 1973. After studying theater at San Francisco State University, Cook received a BA degree in political science from University of California, Berkeley in 1965. During her time there, she studied painting and ceramics, in addition to political science. She went on to receive a MA degree in design from the University of California, Berkeley in 1973. During this time, she studied closely with textile artist, Ed Rossbach.[4] In 1965 Lia travels to Mexico and encounters weaving in Chiapas and Oaxaca, It is during this period that Cook collects and is inspired by these textiles which set fourth her interest for weaving as an artistic practice.[5] In 1967, Lia marries her first husband David Cook and they travel to Sweden together where she studies weaving from Northern Europe and the Soviet Union.[2]
Career
Cook's work focuses on breaking theories of art, craft, science and technology by combining all aspects in her textiles. Her latest project is about the brain and incorporates how humans physically and emotionally respond to images. Cook is considered a pioneer in her use of the electronic Jacquard loom, which she uses in her own work and in her teaching.[6] Cook has completed several fellowships with the National Endowment for the Arts between 1974 and 1992.[7] In 1976 Cook was commissioned by the Art in Architecture Program Fine Arts Collection U.S. General Service Administration[8] to create "Spatial Ikat III" located at the Frank Hagel Federal Building in Richmond California. Cook was also an artist-in-residence at Pittsburgh University where she worked with TREND (Transdisciplinary Research in Emotion, Neuroscience, and Development) to create a body of work that researched Diffusion Spectrum Imaging. During this period Cook had her brain scanned using Diffusion Spectrum Imaging; these scans would later be incorporated into her textiles which went on display at Perimeter Gallery in 2014.[9] Cook has since been interested with sensory sagacity and discovered that woven imagery activated brain activity most affected by touch.[10] In 2006, Cook was once again commissioned by the U.S. General Service Administration to produce "Sons and Daughters"[11] at the Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Her work, Presence/Absence: Touches II, was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the Renwick Gallery's 50th Anniversary Campaign.[12]
"Spatial Ikat III" 1976, Art in Architecture Program Fine Arts Collection U.S. General Service Administration,[8] located at Frank Hagel Federal Building, Richmond California.
"Sons and Daughters" 2006, Art in Architecture Program Fine Arts Collection U.S. General Service Administration,[11] located at Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
^ abCook, Lia (2011), Facing Touch, retrieved November 12, 2022
^ ab"GSA Fine Arts". GSA Fine Arts Collection. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
^Savig, Mary; Atkinson, Nora; Montiel, Anya (2022). This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World. Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum. pp. 228–238. ISBN9781913875268.
