Hampton artist Kathy Hooper puts lifetime of remarkable work up for sale
Rediscovered work from a long career can soon be viewed at Hooper studios
For two days in June, art lovers in New Brunswick will have a unique opportunity to explore the personal collection of Kathy Hooper, including paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, amassed over decades, in her studios in Hampton.
At 89, Hooper remains an unstoppable force and still occupies the homestead where she raised her family, with its wild and sprawling gardens. But the family agrees the time has come to share with the public what's been hidden away and possibly even forgotten.
For decades, in her lofty and luminous studio, Hooper's been so unassumingly prolific, even her daughters have lost track of her canvases, which often feature animals, mountains, and plants.
"Many pieces, particularly drawings, we've never seen before as they've been squirrelled away in drawers," Tandi Hooper-Clark said.
Home-schooled in South Africa, Kathy Hooper briefly attended London's Central School of Art but chose to leave the program after finding it wasn't for her.
The wild and untamable fields of her childhood and now around her home make an irresistible metaphor for her body of work, which defies categorization.
"It's extremely eclectic," said John Leroux, director of the Marion McCain Institute for Atlantic Canadian Art.
"It's lively, it's vibrant. It's colourful, It's very humanist and deals with our everyday life and our connection to nature. She's a devout environmentalist as well and that comes through in a lot of her art."
Kathy's creative spirit has been an inspiration to many New Brunswick artists, writers and filmmakers. Mountaiins of Wonder, a short documentary by Matt Brown, premiered at the Saint John Arts Centre in 2023. More recently, author Liane Thibodeau has assembled a photo book titled Drawing in Your Imagination.
A common theme is the artist's independence and remarkable self-insulation from commercial pressures.
Kathy Hooper, many observe, is never, ever, hustling for a sale.
"I'm a painter," the artist herself said in an interview with CBC News. "I like what I do and I try to make good paintings, you know, and if it works out for me, I think that's OK."
Hooper's journey to Canada is also a prominent part of her story.
She chose to leave the farmland where she grew up because, she said, she could not accept the racial segregation imposed by the South African government.
She and her late husband, artist John Hooper, left for England but later chose to settle in Canada, after he got a job in the 1960s, building the art program for Saint John public schools.
John Hooper, known for his sculptures of people, died in 2006, and some of Kathy's drawings express her grief.
"It was a sad time," she said. "He was a really nice man. Very good, very good, and a good artist."
In the years that followed, Sue Hooper helped her mother transition the family property into an inviting space for people from all backgrounds to come and explore the artist within.
"'We get shut down," said Sue, describing how people come to believe they don't have the talent or instinct to draw. "But everybody has a creative essence. We're creative beings."
A lifetime retrospective of Kathy Hooper's painting, printmaking, carving and drawing — curated by Amy Ash — travelled to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton in 2024.
"That retrospective was a huge eye-opening to what an incredible, incredible artist she is," Sue said. "She was fearless."
The Beaverbrook also purchased Strong Woman 1, an ink drawing from 1970.
Leroux tracked down a quote from Kathy Hooper, published at that time.
"I want to say how infinitely beautiful, how ugly, how funny and how exciting the world is. I want to stretch as far and dig as deep as I can. I want to say there is nothing I know for sure except that there is nothing I know for sure," Leroux said, reading from the catalogue.
Tandi still has a few weeks to scour the last nooks and crannies of her family property for any stray pieces that might go in the show.
"She was never afraid to experiment and certainly didn't paint to please others," Tandi said, surrounded by pieces that never were framed. "She painted what she wanted to paint."
"The subject matter could be quite dark in nature, full of pain or grief or very light and funny. They, of course, could also just be beautiful."
Hooper studios will host the event titled Two Days in June on June 7 and 8. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story had an incorrect year for sculptor John Hooper's death. He died in 2006.May 16, 2025 8:58 AM EDT