| Cooper, Randy |
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After earning a Master's degree in education from the University of Idaho, Randy was employed as a special education teacher. At one point, he worked as a hod carrier and a lumberjack in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Cooper also worked for Westinghouse for 7 years, first as an operator, and then as a developer and teacher of the Total Quality Management program. He credits the attention to detail in his work to that experience. Randy's first education in art consisted of two 6-week courses studying with sculptor Wren Prather- Stroud. He also studied at the Scottsdale Artists' School with Tuck Langland briefly. Cooper, basically, is self-taught, and developed all of his shadow sculpture techniques on his own. After working Randy works and lives in New Mexico with his wife, Susan, who is a writer and an artist in her own right. Cooper shows numerous times during the year throughout the US and Europe. The immediate and growing success of his work has placed Randy Cooper in the forefront of contemporary American sculptors.
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Randy Cooper's SHADOW SCULPTURES present a marvelous paradox of classical art and beauty, as expressed through a modern and original medium. The artist gives form to metallic cloth with only his hands, and a light source. Shapes emerge from the wire mesh, whose beauty is intensified through the lovely shadows cast on various surfaces. Looking at these sculptures, one never tires of discovering their exceptional versatility and the ever-changing characteristics that emanate from their assorted placement and lighting options. Cooper's ability to see the subtleties in the human form makes his work notable.
