Born in 1976 in Jackson, Mississippi, Hollis Cooper grew up in New Orleans and Houston before moving to New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and finally California. She received her undergraduate degree with high honors from Princeton University, a Post-Baccalaureate certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and an M.F.A. from Claremont Graduate University. She received a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant Award nomination from the CGU Art Department in 2006, and in 2007 was selected for the Drawing Center's Viewing Program in NYC. Her work has been featured/reviewed in publications such as New American Paintings, Art Papers, Alarm Magazine, and Art World Digest, and has been included in shows throughout the United States. When she is not in the studio, Hollis teaches in the Art Department at California State University, San Bernardino.