Walking, climbing, and looking, Cooper immerses himself completely in the language of rock, earth, water, trees, light and space. In ‘Upstream’ he explores the very surface of a land shaped by the mountain streams that feed the regions lakes. In painting after painting he traces the tributaries upwards beyond the last stone walls into the wild country where the becks and the streams originate. He also sees a once familiar landscape ever more threatened and inadequately served by those who use it; a landscape now made political by contentious claims that the widespread flooding that has twice devastated Cockermouth is a direct result of poor water management and the traditional hillfarming practices.