Kathryn Cooper
Cuddle me... don't breathe on me
Photograph of clay sculptures made in art psychotherapy session
2020
These small objects, that fit in the palm, were made by the artist during art therapy sessions. Object relations theory is a psychoanalytic theory that suggests humans are motivated by the need to form relationships. Internal objects can represent significant others like mother, but also parts like the mothers breast.
Kathryn Cooper is an artist, gardener and a mixture of the two.
Kathryn trained as an art psychotherapist at Goldsmiths and subsequently worked as an art therapist in the NHS, schools and care homes.
Since having children Kathryn found the demands of therapeutic work tricky to balance with a family. Kathryn works in performance, sound, image making and sculpture. She likes to work collaboratively with people to create events and surprising situations.
Kathryn’s work is often one to one or intimate and is an attempt to preserve the meanigfulness of art therapy work in the public sphere of contemporary art.
