"I have not worked in a vacuum. Early on the work of Robert Irwin, Larry Bell, and James Turrell, as well as exposure to the conceptual work of Bruce Nauman gave me a foundation for the perceptual direction of my work and an understanding of and appreciation for the rigor necessary to realize my ideas. It has been a captivating pursuit and one which continues to teach."
— Michelle Cooke, Taos, NM 2025
There are ways of looking..and each time we look we bring a different self and perspective to the task. The viewer and the artwork are both moments in time connected by a shared consciousness. The artist, the artwork, the viewer… all together in each moment in time.
When I first walked into Michelle’s studio in Taos, NM I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. There was such a variety of work and mediums. Some working with light and shadow, others creating their own light from within through her skilled drawing. In some work, shadows were captured, in others shadows were drawn.
In phenomenology, inner awareness and the broader horizon are two sides of the same coin. They define how you experience the world at any given moment.
Perceptual art exists in the space between what we see and what we understand. It begins with the visible world, the shifting qualities of light, color, texture, form, and movement- but extends beyond representation into the intimate territory of experience. In this realm, perception is not simply the act of looking; it becomes an active process of interpretation, memory, sensation, and emotion.
Ultimately, perceptual art reminds us that reality is experienced rather than simply observed. It asks us to consider the fragile boundary between the world before us and the world constructed within us. In that space of uncertainty where vision meets consciousness, the artwork becomes less an object to be understood and more an experience to be entered.
Discovering Michelle’s work is a reminder to me to never stop looking, with your head up, moving toward the horizon, toward the light.
PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS BELOW for two excellent articles about Michelle Cooke:
