Destiny Cooper was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1996. She is currently studying at Herron School of Art and Design to obtain her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics with a minor in Art History. Her studio practice includes pottery and functional ware with some sculptural work. Cooper’s three-dimensional ceramic works focus on ego death, psychedelia, sacred geometry, and environmental issues. She is the owner of Destiny Cooper Studio and Destiny Cooper Photography. She also owns ... view more »
Artist Medium: Visual Arts: Acrylic, Clay, Drawing Media, Earth, Mixed Media, Photography, Watercolor
The historical significance, permanence, and functionality of the object is what draws me to pottery. This is a fickle medium and has a lengthy process from start to finish. The first record of drawing was on Ceramic, because it is a material that does not easily degrade and breakdown, which provides a permanence. I work functionally and sculpturally with emphasis on the handling of the surface, whether that be through carving or drawing on my pieces. A technique called majolica has drawn me in because it gives my work a watercolor-like feel through applying a white glaze, then underglazes, then clear glaze on top. I am passionate about ceramics because it allows me to work with my hands and manipulate a material in a way that you cannot do with any other material.
I use pottery to explore what is beyond what we see as reality. Ceramics allows me to delve into ideas such as ego death, the third eye, and sacred geometry. I’m currently fascinated with the idea of ego death – where the personality of a person is stripped from them and they can see our universe as a whole. We tend to overlook what is behind the curtain because of our obsession with the “I” and “me”; we don’t see everyone as a collective consciousness, but rather individual egos. Ego death gives the realization that we are all one entity looking back at itself from different perspectives. This idea is similar to the idea of Enlightenment/Nirvana in Buddhism. I am investigating within my pottery how meditation and psychedelics can have an effect on our spirituality. I believe that humanity needs to join together rather than divide because we are stronger as one and weaker divided. I use “eyes” in my work repeatedly to signify our opening of the third eye when we reach that state of ego death.
My sculptural ceramic work focuses mainly on environmental issues and the impact that humanity has on the Earth. Although I have faith that the Earth will power through, we put it through a lot of abuse and disrespect. We need to recognize that our home planet is why we are here in the first place, and without it we wouldn’t exist. Yet, we continue to pollute it in any way we can. With this idea in mind, I make miniature environments that juxtaposes life and death of nature. In the work, one half of the scene was dead or dying, while the other half of the scene was healthy and alive. In the middle, there is a pond where pollution and oil spills are coming from the dead side. Ceramic art helps me to get the idea that the human race needs to show more compassion and not always just do what is convenient for them individually, but to consider the impact on the global future.
I am graduating in May from Herron School of Art and Design – IUPUI, with my major being Ceramics with a minor in Art History.
