Johanna Cooper studied fine art at Hofstra University and graphic design at Pratt Institute. Early in her career she was a designer of book jackets for major book publishers both on staff and on a freelance basis.

After moving from New York to Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and daughter she became interested in the three-dimensional arts and sculpted in metal, wood and stone. Some of her sculptures were displayed in galleries and others were accepted in a national exhibition, which traveled throughout the United States.

After receiving a Masters degree in Anthropology from Columbia University, she began Museum work and developed an interest in African art. Most recently, an appreciation for the bold cubist, elemental forms in African art, an instinct toward the three-dimensional and passion for color are all combined in the present art form - "constructions."

These "constructions" articulate a reality having to do with the natural world. they describe a highly abstracted and distilled version of landscapes, the seasons, natural phenomena, and sometimes essences of places visited. Although completely abstract, the juxtaposed planes represent the dimension of space and distance in visual reality.