Janet Cooper began her artistic life working in clay but also had an interest in creating jewellery made out of recycled bottle caps and tins that she had collected. She has now moved on to assemblage dresses and quilts made from recycled fabrics and found objects which she has collected on her travels to places such as Rome, France and Japan. Each piece tells a personal story about the different places she has visited.
Janet Cooper has also begun making quilts which she has assembled by weaving fabrics and objects using stitching or glue.
In an interview with Nanci Race, Janet Cooper talk about the way she used her memorabilia art to recreating her own roots. "I didn't feel a connection with my roots as I was growing up in suburbia. Yet I was always closely connected to my grandparents. I was the first grandchild on either side. It is this connection with my grandparents and their past that I am, in a sense, trying to expand upon - this sense of intrigue and connection with the sensibilities of the past."
You can read more of the interview HERE
This is a moving slideshow of Janet Cooper's art work
Sources for the images : Janet Cooper Designs, ART E-Zine
Janet Cooper incorporates her life into her dress designs.