Intro

Born in southern Texas, Shane now resides in the Denver, Colorado suburbs with his wife of 37 years and a jet-black cat.

Back in 2010, Shane discovered a rare art form at a local art gallery in Atlanta Georgia and became obsessed. Taking old found books from his local library, Shane set off on a quest of creating art with old books.

By the way, check out his portfolio.

Work

My Portfolio of work.

My work is an expression of how life happens. I take these old valueless books that once were used for reference and seal them with NuetralPH adhesive designed for bookmaking. Like life, I dive into the unknown, searching for imagery, phrases, or diagrams that I find interesting. Many aspects, like our daily journey into a career, family, or society, result in frustration or happiness. There are many times I work through the depths with anticipation, only to be frustrated or work with what I find. Often, the results are a joy as I discover something unique, unexpected, or beautiful.

Like the span of my past career, working with sealed books with a general subject but unknown expectations, the results often present themselves as happy accidents. As I started my journey in life, rudderless and without direction, I started new projects similarly. Not fully aware of what I’ll find, the journey of discovery is as much of the enjoyment in this medium as the results.

Most of the final pieces culminate in discovery, frustration, and delight. With unbound time comes freedom, which is now more expressed in my work. Most of my earlier work was focused on discovery, not pushing past the initial imagery, much like a youngster accepting their first position, job, or assignment.  Going deeper into the work has more depth to the final piece; if something isn’t working, I find the freedom to punch through.

Each work of art I create is bespoke and unique, and no two are alike in subject, expression, or discovery method. My technique is to work with scalpels, cut into each page by page, and sliver by sliver until I’m satisfied with a three-dimensional expression that speaks to the world.

By the way, check out my Portfolio.

About

After a career spanning thirty-five years, moving from graphic artist in publishing to prepress specialist in print advertising, Shane has had an illustrious corporate career. After print advertising wained, Shane shifted his focus to various technologies as a technical sales engineer, ending his corporate life working in cybersecurity.

Always prone to artistic endeavors through the years, Shane is now focusing on the passion he’s been perfecting for fifteen years in his spare time, carving books into works of art. Taking old discarded books with zero to no value, he spends time in the studio, transforming them from dusty blocks of paper into unique works that expose images, diagrams, and phrases. Revitalizing these once-unused tomes provides them with new inspiration and renewed life.

Shane Cooper – Book Carving Artist

Born: October 31, 1964

Education: Ambassador College 1983-1987, Liberal Arts, Religious Studies BA

Bio: Shane is a self-taught artist who’s been creative his entire life. He started after college without direction, unable to use his liberal arts degree for any direct purpose, as its original intent was the ministry. Being fortunate to land a graphic artist position with a publishing company, Shane grew his career in publishing and commercial print. He finished the past 15 years in technology, spending the last eight years in Cybersecurity.

Artist Statement: My work is an expression of how life happens. I take these old valueless books that once were used for reference and seal them with NuetralPH adhesive designed for bookmaking. Like life, I dive into the unknown, searching for imagery, phrases, or diagrams that I find interesting. Many aspects, like our daily journey into a career, family, or society, result in frustration or happiness. There are many times I work through the depths with anticipation, only to be frustrated or work with what I find. Often, the results are a joy as I discover something unique, unexpected, or beautiful.

Like the span of my past career, working with sealed books with a general subject but unknown expectations, the results often present themselves as happy accidents. As I started my journey in life, rudderless and without direction, I started new projects similarly. Not fully aware of what I’ll find, the journey of discovery is as much of the enjoyment in this medium as the results.

Most of the final pieces culminate in discovery, frustration, and delight. With unbound time comes freedom, which is now more expressed in my work. Most of my earlier work was focused on discovery, not pushing past the initial imagery, much like a youngster accepting their first position, job, or assignment.  Going deeper into the work has more depth to the final piece; if something isn’t working, I find the freedom to punch through.

Each work of art I create is bespoke and unique, and no two are alike in subject, expression, or discovery method. My technique is to work with scalpels, cut into each page by page, and sliver by sliver until I’m satisfied with a three-dimensional expression that speaks to the world.

The two most common statements I hear are: “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this before…” – and when observers study the work up close with intent at the imagery, everyone asks… “how in the world did you do that?”

EXHIBITS:

2024 – D'art Collection - D'art Gallery, Denver, CO

2024 - High Five Anniversary Exhibition, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO

2024 – Discovery April/May, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO

2023 – 2024 Rox Arts Gallery

2021 – C.O.R.E – One Thousand Words exhibition

2020 – Hattiesburg Pocket Museum; “1000 words” (Month of October)

2017 – Longmont Gallery, “Recycle, Reuse & Reimagine”

Private Collections:

2012 – “Medical in Pink” Lori West, Flowermound Texas

2013 – “Art Lover” – Nancy Thomas, Superior Colorado

2015 – “Dakotas” – Anonymous owner who had been a western united states surveyor

2015 – “Engineering” – Gifted to: Dylan Cooper, Littleton Colorado

2022 – “Meteor” – Lillyann, California

2023 – “Green Eggs” Lori West, Flowermound Texas

2023 – “The Cat” – Joy Focht, San Diego California

2023 – “Photographers Lens” – Chantelle Reynolds, Nashville Tennesee

Contact

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