“Art is an outlet for me,” Cooper, an oil painter specializing in realistic surrealism, said. “I didn’t do it for other people, I did it for myself. It’s significant to me that other people are even able to enjoy my art. I’m a private, shy person who has a natural inclination to entertain. I have high-functioning Autism that’s coupled with high intelligence, you could say I’m a walking paradox.”

About Matthew Cooper

Matthew Cooper is a native to northwestern Ohio, studying film and theater arts, and founding a video production company making multiple short and full-length films, before relocating to California, then to Indianapolis. “I’ve done a lot of things creatively throughout my life, and I wanted to find one I could stick to without worrying it would become something with an expectation attached to it,” Cooper said. “The expectation was mostly self-implied, but it was there nonetheless. I look to painting as a different way to create something without anything changing or altering it to make it something I can’t keep personal, or keep mine.”

Cooper has assigned “Realistic Surrealism” to describe his approach to his paintings; a take on Bob Ross with their traditional format, but dreamlike while at the same time evoking the world around us.

“You never know what’s hidden in you,” Cooper said. “I watched a lot of Bob Ross and thought it would be a good way to express creativity. My work gives me an avenue for feelings and emotions. My work moves people and awakens their own feelings and emotions.”

About the Full Circle Nine Gallery

The Full Circle Nine Gallery operates as an artist cooperative gallery, with each of the member artists and the board dividing gallery duties and artists roles. The artists will work together to help each other advance in skill and practice, as well as to bring success to the gallery.

With nearly two dozen artists occupying a large, three-room space of the more factory-reminiscent portion of the Circle City Industrial Complex, Full Circle Nine offers a wide variety of art forms, media, and approaches.

Full Circle Nine Gallery is located at 1125 Brookside Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, in the South Studios section of the Circle City Industrial Complex. For more information, or for artists interested in joining the Full Circle Nine, please visit www.fullcirclenine.com