Lia Cook

Lia Cook is an American fiber artist noted for her work combining weaving with photography, painting, and digital technology. She lives and works in Berkeley, California and is known for her weavings which expanded the traditional boundaries of textile arts. She has been a professor at California College of the Arts since 1976.

Lia Cook was born November 24, 1942 in Ventura, California to James Paul Polese and Esther Miriam Homan. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965 and went on to earn a master's degree in 1973. After studying theater at San Francisco State University, Cook received a BA in political science from University of California, Berkeley in 1965. During her time there, she studied painting and ceramics, in addition to political science. She went on to receive a Master of Arts in design from the University of California, Berkeley in 1973. During this time, she studied closely with textile artist, Ed Rossbach. Cook completed several fellowships with the National Endowment for the Arts between 1974 and 1992.

Cook's work focuses on breaking theories of art, craft, science and technology by combining all aspects in her textiles. Her latest project is about the brain and incorporates how humans physically and emotionally respond to images. Cook is considered a pioneer in her use of the electronic Jacquard loom, which she uses in her own work and in her teaching.

Major exhibitions

• San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA Cerebral Touch: Lia Cook 1980-Now, 2017
• Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL Lia Cook, Neuro Nets & Net Works, 2014
• Galerie Les Drapiers, Liege, Belgium Lia Cook, Icones Jacquard, 2014
• Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

Public collections

• American Museum of Art and Design, NYC
• French National Collection of Art, Paris, France
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
• Museum of Modern Art, NYC
• Philbrook Museum of Art
• Racine Art Museum
• Rhode Island School of Design Museum
• Smithsonian American Art Museum

Awards and nominations

• 1996 – Distinguished Faculty Award, California Faculty Award, California College of Arts and Crafts
• 1997 – American Craft Council College of Fellows
• 1998 – Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of California, Berkeley
• 2000 – Flintridge Foundation Fellowship
• 2003 – Artist's Fellowship Grant, California Arts Council
• 2008 – Gold Medal Award, Lausanne to Beijing 5th International Fiber Art Biennale Exhibition, Beijing, China
• 2010 – Artist Residence TREND group, Transdisciplinary Research in Emotion, Neuroscience and Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• 2011 – Center for Cultural Innovation, Investing in Artists grant for Artistic Innovation
• 2012 – Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (SARF)