Handmade Paper, Bookmaking, Photography & Performance Art

Coco’s move into printmaking led to bookmaking. She launched Water Mark Press in the late 1970s, and in the early 1980s began publishing gifted young poets works and illustrating the books with her own prints. But, similar to the toxins in oil paint, the inks would soon sicken her, prompting another transition into handmade paper. With an exciting, natural new medium at her disposal, Coco focused on environmental and ecological subjects. She incorporated her growing interest in permaculture — a set of design principles that uses nature’s own systems as a template for sustainable development practices — into her artworks. Coco’s political voice also emerged, loud and strong as she increasingly used performance art, installations, and photography to convey her artistic talents.