Annie Hooper (26 February 1897 – 11 January 1986) was a sculptor of visionary religious art from

Buxton, North Carolina Buxton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Hatteras Island (part of the Outer Banks) near Cape Hatteras. It is located in Dare County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, it had a population ...

. Her work is an example of

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrate ...

, and

visionary art Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences. History The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, first estab ...

Early life

Annie Miller was born in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shap ...

, and was raised in a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

family of 13 children and 14 foster children. Annie briefly attended college in

Blackstone, Virginia Blackstone, formerly named Blacks and Whites, and then Bellefonte, is a town in Nottoway County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 3,621 at the 2010 census. History The settlement was founded as the village of "Blacks and Whites" ...

, before marrying John Hooper and moving to Stumpy Point. John worked as a fisherman, while Annie taught Sunday school, played organ, and wrote poetry. The couple had one child, Edgar. John and Edgar served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and during their absence Annie suffered the first in a series of depressions. After the war, the Hoopers moved to Buxton and opened a motel.

Sculptures

Annie Hooper began sculpting upon returning from a prolonged mental health treatment in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. Her first sculpture, ''Moses on Mount Nebo looking over the River Jordan into the Promised Land of Canaan'', was created from

driftwood __NOTOC__ Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...

, putty, and house paint. Later figures (which she referred to as “symbols”) incorporated

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

and shells, and were accompanied by descriptive placards. During the forty years she was active as an artist, Hooper created nearly 5,000 sculptures, which she arranged throughout her home in tableaus representing an estimated 300 Biblical scenes. Hooper did not sell any of her work, preferring to lead visitors on tours in which she used the figures to act out religious stories.

Legacy

Following Hooper’s death, preservation of her work was overseen by folklorist Roger Manley, with financial assistance from The Jargon Society. It is now housed in the permanent collection of North Carolina State University’s Gregg Museum of Art and Design. A solo exhibition of Hooper’s work, titled ''A Blessing from the Source'', was held in 1988.

References

External links

Annie Hooper in the SPACES Archive
- photographs and historical documents, including Hooper's correspondence with art historian Seymour Rosen
Blessing From the Source
- 1988 exhibition catalog {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Annie 1897 births 1986 deaths American women sculptors People from Dare County, North Carolina Sculptors from North Carolina Folk artists Visionary environments 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists Women outsider artists

Early life

Sculptures

Legacy

See also

References

External links