CORNELIA PARKER - SCULPTOR AND INSTALLATION ARTIST

Cornelia Parker OBE, RA is a London-based sculptor and installation artist. She was born during the year 1956 in Cheshire, England. Cornelia's work is regarded internationally for its complex, darkly humorous, ironic style. Her work is also highly allusive and patterned with cultural references to cartoons, a style which she adapts to her need to capture things in the moment before they slip away and are lost beyond human perception.

Cold, Dark Matter: An Exploded View

You will see from a previous blog, SHADOWS IN SE1, that I like how shadows can change and distort the appearance of objects, giving them a new meaning. This led me to look at the work of Cornelia Parker, as she makes great use of shadows in some of her installations. This week, I attended a lecture she gave at Dulwich Picture Gallery. To my surprise, as I sat at the front, waiting for the lecture to begin, she came and sat next to me. I managed to speak to her, very briefly, afterwards, but she was much in demand! My intention was to make lots of notes, as Cornelia spoke and share them with you, but she said so much and being no good at shorthand, I gave up. But, it was fascinating listening to this creative mind speaking about her work.

One thing she did say, which stood out, was when she started out she turned her home into a sort of studio. She looked up at the ceilings and realised that they were like big white canvases and it was then that she came up with the idea of hanging things from the ceiling. So, when I got home, I tried hanging letters from my own ceiling and photographing the shadow of the letters. It was difficult, torch in one hand, camera with a slow shutter speed in the other. But as the letters slowly moved, I got a few nice shots, which I later coloured up in Photoshop.

I think Cornelia should have the last word and here is a quote of hers, along with a short video about the place of design and objects.

I like to take man-made objects and push them to the point where they almost lose their reference, so that they become something else, take on other alliances.

Parker, Cornelia.

To read more about Cornelia visit
www.egs.edu/faculty/cornelia-parker/