Collection: Jess Riva Cooper

Toronto artist Jess Riva Cooper crafts sculptures showcasing nature's vibrant chaos and reclamation of spaces. Cooper exhibits internationally, including residencies at Medalta, Archie Bray Foundation, and Kohler Arts/Industry Program. She holds a BFA from NSCAD and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design.

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In my art practice, I integrate colour, drawing and clay to create figurative sculptures and installation-based artwork. As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I uncover ancestral tales and histories that were nearly eradicated. I draw upon the myths of Dybbuk spirits in Yiddish folklore, reinterpreting these traditional stories of spirit possession and dislocation through a feminist lens. My investigation of malevolent Dybbuk spirits that take over the human body parallels my interest in insidious plant life. I explore fallen economic and environmental climates in cities, where houses have become feral, disappearing behind ivy, trees and Kudzu vines that were planted generations ago. In each case, the parasitic entity subsumes the host. In this way, my work incorporates both death and regeneration.