In her latest installation works, Miami fiber sculptor Patricia L. Cooke uses material with saturated “girly” colors and layers of detail to imitate wood carving in antique furniture and interior architecture.
Artist: Born and raised in Greensboro, NC, Cooke earned her BFA in studio art in 2011 from Appalachian State University. In 2018 she received an MFA in sculpture from the University of Miami.
Cooke maintains a home studio, where she creates her art, but also holds the position of Lecturer of Sculpture and Area Technician at the University of Miami.
In the beginning: Like many sculptors, Cooke began college thinking she would pursue painting.
Oddly enough, her decision to focus on sculpture occurred in an upper-level painting class during a project whose prompt was “painting for the blind”.
Cooke was concurrently taking an introductory sculpture course, so her hands and brain were getting attuned to materials and spatial relationships.
Inspired, she went to a local construction thrift store and purchased a door, a shower head, wallpaper, hardware and construction goo.
The result was a bas-relief sculpture with paper undulating below the shower head that emulated water. She painted it all white, and decided she was a sculptor. This piece is now displayed in her home in Miami.
Art & materials: Fabric-based assemblages, collages and life-size installations, often in what Cooke calls stereotypical “girly” colors of pink and purple.
Some pieces hang from the ceiling. Others are attached to the wall or slump on the floor. Prices: Collages ($150), assemblage pieces ($1,500 to $4,000) and installation work ($10,000 to $30,000).
Cooke sees her work in two veins:
- Large-scale installations based on antique furniture and interior architecture. Lately, her work has been monochromatic.
- Small, intimate, abstract assemblages created from upcycled clothing and craft store baubles (like sequins, beads) that exist on the wall. Her assemblage work is abstract, but loosely based on plants and flowers.
“I love tedious and repetitive processes like stitching, as well as the strength and malleability of fabric,” said Cooke. “I’m a very tactile person, and I need the material to push back without breaking.”
Favorite tool: Her sewing machine. It’s a “super basic” Singer Fashion Mate. “It has served me well since 2018,” said Cooke.
Inspirations:
- Victorian furniture and architecture.
- Artists, including: Marcel Duchamp, Do Ho Suh, Judy Pfaff, Jessica Stockholder, Sarah Sze, Diana al-Hadid and Patricia Piccinini.
Fun and unusual commissions: In Summer 2023, Cooke responded to a call for a volunteer courtroom sketch artist in Miami on an apparently big case. She was not really a “drawer,” but the position sounded interesting.
“The judge’s husband sat behind me, and he liked what I was doing,” said Cooke. “He commissioned me to do a drawing of the entire courtroom. It was challenging because I had to do it from memory, but it was fun.”
Recent awards/honors:
- Her piece, “Hollow” (oven) won first place in “2025 Home v.1” at the Decatur Library in collaboration with the Decatur Arts Alliance in Decatur, GA.
The piece is made from laser-cut neoprene fabric, polyester boning, ribbon and thread.
- Another part of “Hollow” is currently on view in Soft Launch at the International Sculpture Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
- Exhibited at the 2025 ArtFields, an annual competition and arts festival In Lake City, SC.
Recent project: “façade,” a three-piece installation mimicking interior architecture from the Victorian era.
It was created from laser-cut purple polyester for INDEX 25: Miami/Santo Domingo Exchange hosted by Edge Zones Gallery in Miami and Quinta Dominica in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Where to buy: patriciacooke.com
Connect:
- Instagram: @misstreesh
- Facebook: Patricia L. Cooke Art
