Lia Cook (born 1942) is an American fiber artist noted for her work combining

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

with photography, painting, and digital technology. She lives and works in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, and is known for her weavings which expanded the traditional boundaries of textile arts. She has been a professor at

California College of the Arts California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in San ...

since 1976.

Early life and education

Lia Cook was born November 24, 1942, in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

to James Paul Polese and Esther Miriam Homan. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965 and went on to earn a master's degree in 1973. After studying theater at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

, Cook received a BA degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1965. During her time there, she studied painting and ceramics, in addition to political science. She went on to receive a MA degree in design from the

in 1973. During this time, she studied closely with textile artist, Ed Rossbach. In 1965 Lia travels to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and encounters weaving in

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

and

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

, It is during this period that Cook collects and is inspired by these textiles which set fourth her interest for weaving as an artistic practice. In 1967, Lia marries her first husband David Cook and they travel to Sweden together where she studies weaving from Northern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Career

Cook's work focuses on breaking theories of art,

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

, science and technology by combining all aspects in her textiles. Her latest project is about the brain and incorporates how humans physically and emotionally respond to images. Cook is considered a pioneer in her use of the electronic

Jacquard loom The Jacquard machine () is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Ja ...

, which she uses in her own work and in her teaching. Cook has completed several fellowships with the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

between 1974 and 1992. In 1976 Cook was commissioned by the Art in Architecture Program Fine Arts Collection U.S. General Service Administration to create "Spatial Ikat III" located at the Frank Hagel Federal Building in Richmond California. Cook was also an artist-in-residence at Pittsburgh University where she worked with TREND (Transdisciplinary Research in Emotion, Neuroscience, and Development) to create a body of work that researched Diffusion Spectrum Imaging. During this period Cook had her brain scanned using Diffusion Spectrum Imaging; these scans would later be incorporated into her textiles which went on display at Perimeter Gallery in 2014. Cook has since been interested with sensory sagacity and discovered that woven imagery activated brain activity most affected by touch. In 2006, Cook was once again commissioned by the U.S. General Service Administration to produce "Sons and Daughters" at the Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Her work, ''Presence/Absence: Touches II'', was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the

Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...

's 50th Anniversary Campaign.

Commissions

* "Spatial Ikat III" 1976, Art in Architecture Program Fine Arts Collection U.S. General Service Administration, located at Frank Hagel Federal Building, Richmond California. * "Sons and Daughters" 2006, Art in Architecture Program Fine Arts Collection U.S. General Service Administration, located at Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Major exhibitions

* ''Embedded Portraiture'', 2004 Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois * Galerie Les Drapiers, Liege, Belgium ''Lia Cook, Icones Jacquard'', 2014 * Houston Center for Contemporary Craft * ''Material Allusions'', March 12, 1996 - July 7, 1996

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

* Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL ''Lia Cook, Neuro Nets & Net Works'', 2014 * ''Re-Embodied,'' 2006 Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York * San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA ''Cerebral Touch: Lia Cook 1980-Now'', 2017

Public collections

* American Museum of Art and Design, NYC *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

Chicago, Illinois * Art in Embassies Program United States Department of State *

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

Cleveland, Ohio *

Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With encyclopedic collections of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums between t ...

Denver, Colorado * French National Collection of Art, Paris, France *

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

Los Angeles, California *

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, NYC *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, NYC *

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Parkes, Australia *

Oakland Museum of California The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cali ...

Oakland, California *

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his wi ...

Racine Art Museum The Racine Art Museum (RAM) and RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts are located in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. The museum holds the largest and most significant contemporary craft collection in North America, with more than 9,500 objects fro ...

Rhode Island School of Design Museum The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD Museum) is an art museum integrated with the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island, US. The museum was co-founded with the school in 1877, and still shares multiple build ...

Washington, D.C. * Textile Museum (George Washington University) Washington, D.C. * Toms Pauli Foundation, Lausanne, Switzerland

Awards and nominations

* 1974, 1977, 1986, 1992 - Fellowships, National Endowment for the Arts * 1990 - Artist's Fellowship Grant, California Arts Council * 1993 - United States/Mexico Creative Artist's Residency, National Endowment for the Arts * 1994 - French Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts * 1996Distinguished Faculty Award, California Faculty Award, California College of Arts and Crafts *1997American Craft Council College of Fellows * 1998Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of California, Berkeley * 2000Flintridge Foundation Fellowship * 2003Artist's Fellowship Grant, California Arts Council * 2008Gold Medal Award, Lausanne to Beijing 5th International Fiber Art Biennale Exhibition, Beijing, China * 2010Artist Residence TREND group, Transdisciplinary Research in Emotion, Neuroscience and Development, Department of Psychiatry,

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a medical school of the University of Pittsburgh, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The School of Medicine, also known as Pitt Med, is consistently ranked as a "Top Medical School" by '' ...

* 2011Center for Cultural Innovation, Investing in Artists grant for Artistic Innovation * 2012Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (SARF)

References

External links

Lia Cook profile on Craft in America

Lia Cook: On the Loom of Contradiction
from American Craft Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Lia 1942 births Living people American weavers 20th-century textile artists 20th-century American women artists California College of the Arts faculty San Francisco State University alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni 20th-century women textile artists American women academics 21st-century American women artists Textile artists from California