Gina Parr works predominantly in the medium of painting, but also when travelling photographs, her way of painting whilst on the move. Her work is driven by autobiographical themes and natural reference, exploring the human condition through connections to place, time, space and memory. She has exhibited widely in galleries and art fairs in the UK and completed commissions in The Middle East, Belguim and London.
Parr’s works are held in collections worldwide including Keble College Oxford, Director of Jestico + Whiles Architects London, President of the Boston’s Children’s Museum USA, and Goldman Sachs Senior Economist, London.
Parr originally trained as a Fine Artist, graduating with a First Class BA Honours Degree, she went on to Chelsea College of Art to study Set Design, leading to a 25 year career designing many prestigious shows for stage and television. During this time she also lectured in art and design in various colleges including Chelsea College of Art and Nottingham University. She returned to work as an Artist in 2007, bringing her creative experience as a designer to her Art practice.
Self taught or art school?
I was trained as a Fine Artist at the end of the 70”s, graduating with a First Class BA Honours Degree from Coventry ( at the peak time of The Specials who were Art College mates! ), I then went on to Chelsea College of Art to study Set Design for Television, which led to a 25 year career Production Designing sets and stages for BBC, ITV etc, and the likes of David Bowie, Kylie, Robbie Williams, Aimee Winehouse, Bill Bailey, The Brit Awards, “Shooting Stars” with Vic and Bob and the original Albert Square for “Eastenders”, to name but a few. I also Art Directed for Richard Eyres on “Insurance Man”, the Alan Bennett Drama about Kafka for BBC. Since returning to work as an Artist in 2007, I’ve had Paintings and Photography on set of David Hares Drama “Worricker”, starring Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter for BBC, “Breeders” starring Martin Freeman, Daisy Haggard and Alun Armstrong for Sky 1 and “Holby City” for BBC, again to name but a few.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
Without a doubt, any one of the Seagram Murals by Rothko.
How would you describe your style?
I’d say my style is expressive, bold, emotive and gestural, …. I tend to create chimerical space, which lies somewhere between abstraction and figuration, “hovering on the edge of scenic recognition” ( Howard Hodgkin )
Where are your favourite places to view art?
I love the White Cube in Bermondsey, The Gagosian Grosvenor Hill and of course Tate Modern, beautiful buildings in which to view great Art.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Howard Hodgkin, for his sumptuous colour, Rothko, for his darkness and enveloping colour, Tracey Emin, for what she did in raising the “female artist” profile and her truthfulness, Julie Mehretu for her brave boldness and scale, which I’m always envious of, Rose Wylie for her “vast and blissfully unruly paintings” ( Guardian ) , Cy Twombly for his wonderful mark making and Anselm Keifer, again for his scale, subject matter and his quote which is my mantra, “Art is longing. You never arrive but you keep going in the hope that you will.”
What or who inspires your art?
My work has both nature and self at its heart, it’s about expressing who I am, where I’ve come from, and the notion that I’m formed by my personal journey, my experiences and my relationships. Series themes have included family, childhood, loss, love and gender.
My husband, Photographer Ian Hoskin and I love to travel and have made several 2 month long working trips taking photographs as we backpack. In 2010/11 while we were travelling in France, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, I started photographing as my way of “painting” with my camera when away from the studio. Whilst on these trips I’m generally looking for illusions of scape and form found in the weathered and decayed textures of walls and other surfaces, which for me, become chimerical worlds and fictional places. Since starting to do this we have traveled to India, Cuba and Sri Lanka on these working trips.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
I have a studio which used to be a double garage on the ground floor of our house in Exmouth, which now has large glass doors. I used to think it was quite large but my paintings have been getting bigger so it doesn’t feel quite so big anymore…
Do you have any studio rituals?
I need to have a clear head and to feel settled before I go to the studio, anything pressing that needs sorting in everyday life and business, needs to have been addressed before I start work. This means I usually spend time when I start the day doing these things, including dealing with corespondence with Galleries and clients, updating online Gallery content and listings, sorting Exhibition details etc. Then I have a coffee and head down to the studio knowing I’ve left the plates happily up and spinning. There is so much more to an Artist’s life than just creating… Once in the studio I have BBC Radio 4 on which I don’t listen to in detail, but it’s a comforting familiar background sound and occasionally there is something that comes up that is relevant to my work which goes in subliminally.
When I’m painting, I’m completely immersed in the process whilst I build a reverberating relationship with the canvas, a push and pull of spontaneity and controlled intention using palette knife, cloth, brush, sponge and fingers, to add, remove, scratch, blur and work the paint. I’ve recently started drawing into the paint with charcoal, a sort of gut to hand reaction. Whist painting, I’m aiming to invoke an atmosphere which is drawn from the process, my initial emotional trigger and the colour palette I’ve chosen, which is usually body of of work based on a particular overarching theme.
What are you working on currently?
I’m working on a new series of paintings “Public, Private, Secret”, exploring desire, love and sensuality. When I returned to painting in 2007 I was working with a warmer more colourful palette, more recently my work has been predominantly natural in colour. In my new body of work, I’m keen to step back to include a warmer and more saturated palette which reflects my themes, whilst I continue to explore drawing into the paint. I started this new series late in 2019 well before Covid 19 appeared. As an Artist, it’s impossible to not be affected by such a momentous period in our lives, so it’ll be interesting to see how this affects my new work.
What are your ambitions?
I’d like to see more female Artists doing well and being recognised for their contributions to Art. Obviously I’d like to be one of these Artists, but my main aim is to continue being true to my practice, producing work that speaks to viewers about the human condition and what it is to be alive, warts and all!
