Eileen Cooper: Eyes Wide Open

In a series of moonlit scenes women appear in various states of contemplation, their larger-than-life bodies bent into poses that are languid, sensuous, awkward and athletic. One dances on a table on the shores of a sea while another dangles from the branches of a tree to dip her finger into a pool of water. These are the dream-like visions of acclaimed British artist Eileen Cooper, who has spent the last five decades exploring different aspects of the female experience by weaving together autobiographical elements with references from mythology, fairy tales and art history. Eyes Wide Open, her first solo exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Wandsworth, brings together a new series of tender paintings that consider different states of transition, the performance of identity and acts of creation.