Annie Hooper (26 February 1897 – 11 January 1986) was a sculptor of visionary religious art from Buxton, North Carolina. Her work is an example of

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

outsider art Outsider art is Fine art, art made by Autodidacticism, self-taught individuals who are untrained and untutored in the traditional arts with typically little or no contact with the Convention (norm), conventions of the art worlds. The term ''ou ...

, and visionary art.

Early life

Annie Miller was born in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

, on

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. As a temperate barrier island, the landscape has been shaped by wind, waves, and storms. There are long stretches of beach ...

, and was raised in a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

family of 13 children and 14 foster children. Annie briefly attended college in Blackstone, Virginia, before marrying John Hooper and moving to Stumpy Point. John worked as a fisherman, while Annie taught Sunday school, played organ, and wrote poetry. The couple had one child, Edgar. John and Edgar served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and during their absence Annie suffered the first in a series of depressions. After the war, the Hoopers moved to Buxton and opened a motel.

Sculptures

Annie Hooper began sculpting upon returning from a prolonged mental health treatment in

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. Her first sculpture, ''Moses on Mount Nebo looking over the River Jordan into the Promised Land of Canaan'', was created from

driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

putty PuTTY () is a free and open-source terminal emulator, serial console and network file transfer application. It supports several network protocols, including SCP, SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw socket connection. It can also connect to a se ...

, and house paint. Later figures (which she referred to as “symbols”) incorporated

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

and shells, and were accompanied by descriptive placards. During the forty years she was active as an artist, Hooper created nearly 5,000 sculptures, which she arranged throughout her home in tableaus representing an estimated 300 Biblical scenes. Hooper did not sell any of her work, preferring to lead visitors on tours in which she used the figures to act out religious stories.

Legacy

Following Hooper’s death, preservation of her work was overseen by folklorist Roger Manley, with financial assistance from The Jargon Society. It is now housed in the permanent collection of

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

’s Gregg Museum of Art and Design. A solo exhibition of Hooper’s work, titled ''A Blessing from the Source'', was held in 1988.

References

External links

Annie Hooper in the SPACES Archive
- photographs and historical documents, including Hooper's correspondence with art historian Seymour Rosen
Blessing From the Source
- 1988 exhibition catalog {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Annie 1897 births 1986 deaths People from Dare County, North Carolina Sculptors from North Carolina American folk artists Visionary environments 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women sculptors American women outsider artists American outsider artists

Early life

Sculptures

Legacy

See also

References

External links