MONICA COOK

Born in Dalton, Georgia in 1974, Monica Cook moved to Savannah, Georgia to pursue a bachelor's degree in painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Since graduating in 1996. Cook recently completed a residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where she currently resides, continuing to work as an artist.

“Over a decade ago I began painting self portraits out of convenience of using myself as a model. Although the paintings are somewhat autobiographical I have rarely considered my "self portraits" a portrait of me. I try to allow the character to evolve on its own and not become trapped by expectations or likeness.”

“After many years of feeling confined to painting self portraits I would catch myself trying to memorize others features, like the shape of some ones hands or the color around their eyes to bring back to my portrait in the studio. Over time I had grown tired of solely painting myself and of the limited pose I had from painting from life through the mirror, so I began to use photographs as reference. Like many artists I enjoy working alone, becoming comfortable with use of a photographic reference made it possible to paint others without the distractions of having a model in the studio.”

“Painting has always been a source of self exploration for me. Now that I am painting other people I think it is even more so. I thought it took a lot of courage to expose myself in a painting but realized it takes even more to expose someone else. Having my friends as models was extremely nerve racking at first, with self portraits you really only have yourself to answer to, painting others you have their physical concerns.”

Monica Cook ( ART AND DESIGN)