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About the ExhibitionJessica Rath (take me to the apple breeder) findsdiverse bodies not unlike our own within apple treearchitecture and little known blushing fruit. Bodies andskins are explored as standing figures, as sublimesurfaces, and as tastes remembered. The work becomesa time capsule of certain moments encapsulatingcenturies of grafting. The apple/tree is both real andmythical, scientific specimen and folk-tale.

For artist/forager Laura Cooper (Opuntia), decay revealsthe lace-like plant architecture. Vegetal skeletonsbecome landscapes, replete with shapes like rivers orthe human circulatory system. One form meandersslowly until it becomes something else; it splits, andreplicates. The work is both transparent and solid. Itbecomes a ghost, a space, the opposite of what it was.The “Prickly Pear” (Opuntia ficus-indica) is no longer.

Both Jessica Rath and Laura Cooper distill form thoughdisassociation—the close-up, the wide angle, the portraitbackdrop are all here, as well as artful articulations oflaborious making. These works gesture toward theinfinite possibilities emanating from one point, from asingle species.

Jessica RathJessica Rath createsceramic sculptures ofapple varieties andphotographic portraitsof cloned hybrid appletrees, invitingmeditation on notions ofbeauty within cultivated,domestic, and wildlandscapes.

Laura CooperLaura Cooper presentstransformed versions ofthe lace-like skeletalremains of the Opuntiacactus. The work is bothtransparent and solid; aghost, a space, theopposite of what it was.

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Laura CooperLaura Cooper is an artist andlandscape designer based in LosAngeles. With a BA from Universityof California at San Diego, and aMaster of Fine Arts from Cal Arts,Cooper is currently associateprofessor at the Art Center Collegeof Design in Pasadena. Cooper isinspired by plants in her owngarden; her art work and designprojects bring together observationand imagination in multiple forms.

Laura Cooper has exhibited in LosAngeles, New York, and Hawaii,with recent shows at VassarCollege, Poughkeepsie, New York,and the Norton Museum of Art inWest Palm Beach, Florida.

Dwell magazine featured Cooper'saward-winning domestic gardendesign in the July/August 2012issue. She is currently collaboratingwith several architecture firms onintegrated landscape/architectureprojects.

OpuntiaLaura Cooper uses tinybrushes, ultra-fine yarn withcrochet hook, and bits andpieces of the actual Opuntiacactus, to open up poetic andabstract visual associations.

Laura Cooper

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OpuntiaThe Opuntia series comes from Cooper's extendedobservation of the skeletal remains of Opuntia ficus-indica. Also known as the Prickly Pear, this plant’sstructure mimics other organic forms, be they neuralpathways in the brain, rivers and their tributaries, orcoral reefs. For this work, the artist uses tiny brushes,ultra-fine yarn with crochet hook, and bits and pieces ofthe actual plant, to open up poetic and abstract visualassociations.

Laura CooperOpuntia Two and Three (detail), 2003-2013Chinese watercolor on paper, 7 x 18 feetsilk, stainless steel and wool on nylon, 9 x 18.5 feet

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About the Exhibition

Jessica Rath

Laura Cooper

Opuntia

Events

Single Species Translations

Laura CooperOpuntia Two and Three (detail), 2003-2013Chinese watercolor on paper, 7 x 18 feetsilk, stainless steel and wool on nylon, 9 x 18.5 feet

Laura CooperOpuntia Reconfigured, 2004Dried Opuntia 15 x 24 x 15 inches

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Single Species Translations pages maintained by Laurel BradleyThis page was last updated on 25 June 2014

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Laura CooperOpuntia Reconfigured (detail, interior view), 2004Dried Opuntia 15 x 24 x 15 inches