Photo By Matt Borgerding

Local artist Stephanie Cooper has her sculpture FREEDOM FROM THE CONCEPTIONS OF BEAUTY currently on view at the YWCA Gallery (898 Walnut St., Downtown). For 25 years Cooper has been a fixture of the Cincinnati art scene. Now she participates in the group exhibition, Journey to Freedom: An Exploration of What it Means to Be Free, on view through April 22.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is the inspiration for the exhibition. Gallery curators invited artists who have shown at the YWCA during the past 12 years to answer this question: What does freedom mean to you?

"It's a balancing act," Cooper says. "Anyone can achieve freedom. But no one can be free all the time."

Her woodcuts always seem to find a naked, playful, autonomy. "Freedom from Conceptions" is a 12-inch female figure carved from poplar. The nude is firmly planted on an ottoman with her broad feet resting on a decorative base. She holds a mirror and an expression of coy contentment for her own reflection. As she brushes her hair back my eye wanders to a watercolor hanging above the sculpture. The watercolor is a part of the sculpture, depicting the same woman riding in a pig-drawn cart through the country. It is as if the woman on the footstool dreams this scenario. The metaphoric pig finds comfort in its own skin and relishes in life without shame.

Lining the base of the sculpture are paintings of cosmetically altered body parts -- a pair of bloated lips stuck by needles and a face stretched like silly-putty. The seated figure is unhampered. She will not conform to the icons of beauty that might require her to trim down her nose, perk up her breasts or narrow her feet.

Like most of Cooper's work this figure has a primitive charm. The olive-tinted wood and stylized features make the figure an "everywoman," universally relatable. -- Selena Reder

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FOCAL POINT turns a critical lens on a singular work of art. Through Focal Point we slow down, reflect on one work and provide a longer look.