The Christopher Coker Collection
‘Life 101’
Artist Christopher Coker
'Life 101' is a collection that recognizes the hardships, celebrates the realizations, and acknowledges the growth we face as we grow into who we are supposed to be.
'My bond with my inner dialog connects me to frequencies beyond what I can explain. Through my work, I do my best to convey what my words cannot. I do not create with the intention of fame or notoriety, instead following the intuitive purpose given. To express myself through my unique design.' - Christopher Coker.
Film by Anthony Lew
From conceptualization to completion. How many times do we arrive at anything exactly as we planned it? In our everyday lives we do our best to plan and organize our relationships, goals, and careers to the best of our ability. One thing we seem to forget to factor in is life itself, as if it didn’t have its own plans for us. For many, myself included, the phrase "life got in the way" was our rationalization for not completing a task or failing to reach our goals. But when I left my 16 year career as a chef to become a full-time artist, I found that phrase to be the antithesis of what I enjoy so much about creating. It is the creative process that mirrors the reality of life itself. In the manner that no matter how much we plan, how skilled we think we are, or how educated, we do not have total control over this process. Evey work of art and real time situation carries with it its own set of challenges, reflecting that of our own handling of our emotions whatever they may be at the time. Can we predict how we will feel a week, a month, a year from now? Our balance can fluctuate at any given moment. All delt indiscriminately by the hand of the universe. Humans are not perfect. We are inconsistent. We are unpredictable. No matter how seasoned or skilled, we must trust that we cannot control everything no matter how hard we attempt. I find the beauty that lay within the fortuitous, in life and while creating. Working with what I have when I have it. Trusting that life did not just get in the way... but HAPPENED exactly the way it should.
Since transitioning from a 16 year Chef career to a visual artist, I moved to SF on December 31. Since then..
Feb 2358MRKT GroupShow: Crustation to Critters, 2 works
Mar 2358MRKT GroupShow: Abstraction, 3 works (2sold)
April 2358MRKT GroupShow: MidCentury, 3 works
June 2358MRKT Signed representation contract
Nov 2358MRKT First solo exhibition
April ARTFUSE SF ABSTRACT SF SHOW: 1 work
Feb-May Clement St Artwalk
Mar-May Castro St Artwalk
Jun Balboa St Artwalk
Over 30 commissions/independent online sales
Christopher Coker
My bond with my inner dialog connects me to frequencies beyond what I can explain. Through my work, I do my best to convey what my words cannot. I do not create with the intention of fame or notoriety, instead following the intuitive purpose I was given. To express myself by means of my unique design. I am not the designed apparatus of societal constructs or the dean of popular opinion. But an opposition to its framework. There is a rawness and distorted quality to my work that mirrors a life with no easy answers, no clear-cut guarantees, and gray areas of abstraction revealing my truth. Neutrality nuanced through transparency, my work is a result of my personal experience cutting through the prismatic lens of childlike innocence. For it is my inner child who is the real artist, I merely act as a vessel to deliver his message. I look forward to sharing that message with all of you.
-Christopher