Holly Hooper (b.1991) is a British artist, born and currently living in London. She obtained her BA (Hons) in Communication Design from London College of Communication, UAL, in 2013. She subsequently worked as a theatre producer and designer in London for five years. Moving into the glass industry in 2018, she worked as a hot shop assistant before completing her MA in Ceramics and Glass at The Royal College of Art in 2023.
My work is influenced by the power of memory and its connection to place. It is an exploration of the distant glimpses of recollection, the uncanny feeling of walking on familiar ground and the lingering smells of a place you can’t quite remember. I’m interested in how these memories manifest as colours, shapes, and textures.
Attempting to encapsulate the feeling of awe when falling in love with a particular location, despite not fully understanding the reasons why, and exploring the nostalgia for somewhere visited long ago, where fragments of memories reside.
My influences range from the vivid neon greens and lavender hues you can find in spring, in the bluebell forest near where I grew up, to my travels through the Atacama Desert in Chile, immersed in the dusky orange sands and the vast night sky.
However, what I remember is not necessarily what others remember. Therefore, the work is intentionally abstracted, allowing viewers to interpret and see what they want to see, creating their own narratives and memories of place.
Through the weaving together of these images, I construct new environments filled with anticipation. Using a meticulous process of layering multiple colours, the work transforms with the shifting light throughout the day. An internal glow emanates, evoking a sense of magic and fantasy.
It is an invitation to explore the deep connections between personal experiences, emotions, and the physical world, as we construct our own narratives and forge lasting impressions of the spaces we inhabit.