Centennial Portfolio

Michelle Cooke

White Light

16 x 20” Lithograph
Printed by Tamarind Institute

Michelle Cooke’s work imbues a keen sensibility for the physical integrity of her materials with rigorous attention to formal structure. Cooke’s sculptural installations and her graphite drawings challenge our perception of light: the Horizon Seriesfractures multiple horizon lines into bands of dark and light, the White Light Series captures light through gradation and texture. Her light installations rendered with small slides of glass convey a disarming directness and an immediate visual reference to the structural properties of light. At first transparent and virtually self-effacing, the wall-mounted glass squares create lyrical and tactile light effects of enormous evocative power, while at the same time the grid’s enigmatic formal structure subdues the aggressive echelons of projecting glass.

Cooke’s work has been shown in numerous museums and solo exhibitions both in the United States and Europe. She lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, and New York, New York.

Artist Statement

The recurring themes in my work are fragility, transparency, balance, weightlessness, and gravity. Each work yields its meaning through the handling of the material.

Education

Master of Fine Arts, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna, California

University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles

Additional information about Michelle’s work can be found at her website: www.michellecooke.com

Harwood Museum of Art Centennial Portfolio

A limited-edition portfolio of signed and numbered original prints and photographs by Taos based artists commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lucy Harwood’s establishment of the Harwood Foundation and creation of the Harwood Museum of Art

Thirty portfolios were printed between May and August 2022.  Documentation of the printing of each piece is included. The paper size of each print is 16 x 20".

William Davis

Sasha vom Dorp

Contact us with questions or request to see the portfolio in person

The Harwood Museum of Art Centennial Portfolio was published by the Harwood Museum of Art of the University of New Mexico with assistance from the Harwood Museum Alliance.  Proceeds from this portfolio will support projects and programs of the Harwood Museum of Art