THE SLEEP PIECE (Exterior of Unconsciousness, One Photograph
Every Morning Before Waking), 1993-2021
Installation at Angles Galley, Santa Monica, CA. July-August 2003.
The Sleep Piece is exhibited as a single growing installation, mounted directly onto the wall with archival photo corners, chronologically arranged in blocks of 30 prints.
THE SLEEP PIECE (Exterior of Unconsciousness, One Photograph
Every Morning Before Waking), 1993-2021
Installation at Angles Galley, Santa Monica, CA. July-August 2003.
The Sleep Piece is exhibited as a single growing installation, mounted directly onto the wall with archival photo corners, chronologically arranged in blocks of 30 prints.
THE SLEEP PIECE (Exterior of Unconsciousness, One Photograph Every Morning Before Waking), 1993-2021 (detail)
THE SLEEP PIECE (Exterior of Unconsciousness, One Photograph Every Morning Before Waking), 1993-2021 (detail)
THE SLEEP PIECE (Exterior of Unconsciousness, One Photograph Every Morning Before Waking), 1993-2021 (detail)
GLASSELL ATLAS, 2016
Printed cotton and silk, cotton embroidery thread, wool, silk, and mohair yarns, dragon-fruit rinds and flowers, dried orchids, datura seed pods, floss and seeds from floss silk tree, rocks, concrete, asphalt, glass, wood, nails, Japanese watercolor, felt tip marker and acrylic on polyester | 128 x 145 x 11 inches
GLASSELL ATLAS, 2016 (detail)
Printed cotton and silk, cotton embroidery thread, wool, silk, and mohair yarns, dragon-fruit rinds and flowers, dried orchids, datura seed pods, floss and seeds from floss silk tree, rocks, concrete, asphalt, glass, wood, nails, Japanese watercolor, felt tip marker and acrylic on polyester | 128 x 145 x 11 inches
GLASSELL ATLAS, 2016 (detail)
Printed cotton and silk, cotton embroidery thread, wool, silk, and mohair yarns, dragon-fruit rinds and flowers, dried orchids, datura seed pods, floss and seeds from floss silk tree, rocks, concrete, asphalt, glass, wood, nails, Japanese watercolor, felt tip marker and acrylic on polyester | 128 x 145 x 11 inches
GLASSELL ATLAS, 2016 (detail)
Printed cotton and silk, cotton embroidery thread, wool, silk, and mohair yarns, dragon-fruit rinds and flowers, dried orchids, datura seed pods, floss and seeds from floss silk tree, rocks, concrete, asphalt, glass, wood, nails, Japanese watercolor, felt tip marker and acrylic on polyester | 128 x 145 x 11 inches
GLASSELL ATLAS, 2016 (detail)
Printed cotton and silk, cotton embroidery thread, wool, silk, and mohair yarns, dragon-fruit rinds and flowers, dried orchids, datura seed pods, floss and seeds from floss silk tree, rocks, concrete, asphalt, glass, wood, nails, Japanese watercolor, felt tip marker and acrylic on polyester | 128 x 145 x 11 inches
GLASSELL ATLAS, 2016 (detail)
Printed cotton and silk, cotton embroidery thread, wool, silk, and mohair yarns, dragon-fruit rinds and flowers, dried orchids, datura seed pods, floss and seeds from floss silk tree, rocks, concrete, asphalt, glass, wood, nails, Japanese watercolor, felt tip marker and acrylic on polyester | 128 x 145 x 11 inches/p>
THICKET, 2015
Wood, cotton thread, string,plant material, printed cotton, asphalt, ink and acrylic on cotton polyester | 89 x 123 x 13 inches
THICKET, 2015 (detail)
Wood, cotton thread, string,plant material, printed cotton, asphalt, ink and acrylic on cotton polyester | 89 x 123 x 13 inches
THICKET, 2015 (detail)
Wood, cotton thread, string,plant material, printed cotton, asphalt, ink and acrylic on cotton polyester | 89 x 123 x 13 inches
THICKET, 2015 (detail)
Wood, cotton thread, string,plant material, printed cotton, asphalt, ink and acrylic on cotton polyester | 89 x 123 x 13 inches
THICKET, 2015 (detail)
Wood, cotton thread, string,plant material, printed cotton, asphalt, ink and acrylic on cotton polyester | 89 x 123 x 13 inches
WATERFALL, 2014
Graphite, acrylic paint, stainless steel and silk yarn, rouge on paper | 30 x 22 inches.
In this drawn and crocheted imaginary landscape, Taggart and Cooper bring together her use of crochet as drawn line and his fantastical detailed landscape. Along with a shared regard for the imaginative possibilities of mountain peaks, both were inspired by the exhibition of 17th century Chinese paintings at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, "The Artful Recluse: Painting, Poetry, and Politics in 17th-Century China." Many of the ideas in these works are of importance to them both, and continue to resonate in their individual works.
THE CREATURE THAT LIVES IN THE PAPER, 2005
Acrylic, Japanese watercolor, collected spiderwebs, on paper | 23 x 30 inches
Laura Cooper and Nick Taggart have been married since 1991. In 1993, they started their “Sleep Piece” as part of Cooper’s show “Nightly” at Sue Spaid Fine Art. Due to the film being discontinued, the final photo – the 7,474th photograph – was taken on May 24, 2021.
Throughout their partnership they have both enjoyed working in their garden, tending chickens, rabbits, vegetables and enormous plants in various outlandish compositions. This affinity for the garden has influenced their respective work in almost all of its manifestations for the last twenty-five years.
Cooper and Taggart have been combining their respective materials in works on paper. In September of 2015, they exhibited a large collaborative work in the exhibition “Oasis”at the Sturt Haaga Gallery, utilizing materials and images collected from Descanso Gardens, where the gallery is located.
