MichaelParkes-Index-01

MichaelParkes-Index-02

MichaelParkes-Index-03

MichaelParkes-Index-04

MichaelParkes-Index-05

"Waiting,"

1994, oil and pencil on paperboard

Quote: In all ages and cultures the egg represents a beginning of a new creation. The medieval community could not envision life at the height of the Renaissance, as we also cannot imagine what we will be in 200 years. To ensure a positive outcome we all must protect the seed, symbolized by the egg. The mental level (the dwarfs), our physical being (the tiger), and our spirituality (the angel), are all equally responsible for the future.

"Magic Spring"

1997, oil on canvas

Quote: The idea of Magic Spring is similar to that of Waiting but the symbolism is slightly different. In the shadow of the rock, the tiger (our animal instincts) focuses on his job as guardian. Meanwhile the very small light of the candle fascinates the dwarf (our ego) while only the angel contemplates the real light.

"The Last Lion"

1994, oil on canvas

Quote: After millions of years the king of beasts exists, but only just. It is said that each animal species has a protective guardian. Here she is the deva of lions, the one who has for so long nurtured them as they grew into their stature of grandeur. He is dying, the last lion. What do those angel-protectors do when the last of their species is gone? What must she feel, waiting for her last son's breath on earth?

"The Letter"

1981, oil on wood

Quote: The theme is based on the fairy tale, "The Little Mermaid," the story of a mermaid who leaves her world to be with the one she loves. Yet the sacrifice is in vain and she returns to her aquatic home.

"The Mask"

1982, oil on wood

Quote: Everything in a Michael Parkes painting can probably be seen as a symbol or metaphor. Yet if you look at nature, you will see that ALL things can be seen as symbols and metaphors. What they do, when combined in a single atmosphere, is just that, create an atmosphere. The 'mask' is off. She is simply being, in a place beyound metaphors and symbols.

"The Game"

1981, oil on wood

Quote: Thoughts, fired like arrows, can hit a truth, but never the whole truth. When the arrows of thought are left, frozen in stone, and silence expands, the game is won and the archer is free.

"The Creation"

1989, oil on canvas

The Creation is a rather lighthearted painting. It is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, almost the flip side of Michelangelo's painting of God creating Adam. Here you find a female deity lovingly creating man for the first time, as he looks upon her with adoration.

"Swan Lake"

1980, oil on wood

Quote: In this early Swan Lake, one can almost imagine the artist looking for that world within. He knows it is there, but at this moment it is unattainable. The girl has announced the search by blowing the trumpet. And the sea is lifted up as if someone has been searching beneath it. In certain Hindu texts the swan represents the soul. Here it follows her... waiting. Yet the time is not ripe. For if you look at her face, it is still unformed and full of youth.

"Swan Lake"

1982, oil on wood

Quote: There are bodies of water placed between Time's chain of longings, where all beings celebrate Nature's manifestations. Swan Lake is one such place. It is where one can be fully gentle, without arrogance and without aggression, participating in the brilliance of this realm.

"Waiting for Alice"

1983, oil on wood

Quote: "My name is Alice so please your Majesty," said Alice boldly, for she thought to herself why, they're only a pack of cards! I needn't be afraid of them!"

    Lewis Carroll

When Alice in Wonderland was written, it was for a child who was able to respond to the fantasy and intuitively understand the symbolism of the gift from Lewis Carroll.

"The Lotus"

1979, oil on wood

Quote: There are basic building blocks in matter that are the beginnings of life. In The Lotus, the guardians are protecting and organizing these elements on a new planet, still in the early stages of its development. The most important of these elements is symbolized by the red lotus, the spark of consciousness.

"Battle of Mare Imbrium"

1983, oil on wood

Quote: "When I was a child and looked up at the moon, it was a wondrous place, a world full of fairies and angels." One of the vast sea plains on the moon is called 'Mare Imbrium'. As we get older, the battle is to try and keep our sense of childlike wonder. For there is always the danger in our lives and in our civilizations of permitting a shining knight, armored with linear logic, to kill the dragon of fantasy.

"Hour of the Gods"

1990, oil and pencil on wood

Quote: The swan announces what the gods have decreed... that time has come for another human cycle to end. The angel understanding the meaning of this gestures in despair.

"St. George and the Dragon"

1978, oil on wood

Quote: There are two keys that unlock this painting. The first is in the golden ball that the dragon holds and the second is the unbroken ball embraced by the angel in the foreground. One can think of St. George as our linear consciousness and the dragon as our ability to live in a world where gods and angels live freely amongst us. This image depicts the dragon's ball being shattered by St. George... that is, linear thought shattering our belief in the supernatural. But as in a pendulum, the game continues back and forth, through the ages, where no one wins forever and no dragon is truly slain. And as for the angel smiling serenely in the foreground, she acknowledges both sides of the game and embraces Truth.

"St. George"

1978, oil on wood

Quote: Not everything in Michael Parkes work is serious. This is a "classical, yet humorous portrait of St. George after the fight with the dragon." He has won the hand, and everything else, of the naked maiden. The sword represents the triumph over evil. "Naturally, the real question continues to be whether it was really a bad dragon or nothing more than a dragon trapped within the emotional circumstances of the moment!"

"Sky Circus"

1985, oil on wood

Quote: It is just that: circus in the sky where there is no ring or tent, but a whole sky to play in effortlessly.

"Sky Circus(detail)"

1985, oil on wood

"Petrouchka's Dream"

1982, oil on wood

Quote: Petrouchka, a ballet choreographed by Fokine, is fascinating historically in so far as it was choreographed for Nijinsky. Nijinsky a genius in his art, was not unlike Petrouchka, a trapped soul thinly masked in real life. Here Petrouchkla offers his love, but he is a puppet. Unrequited love is the marionette's fate.

"Swan Spirit"

1982, oil on wood

Quote: Tribal traditions throughout the world have rites enabling their members to enter a liminal space allowing an expansion of vision. Circles are drawn in the sand, elaborate rituals proceed... creating a sacred space where time is suspended and the unseen is seen. The young girl stands within such a circle and is able to see the deva of swans.

"Oasis"

1978, oil on wood

Quote: The idea was to show the end of life on a planet not unlike our own. Nothing is left in this airless, sulfuric atmosphere but one protector carrying a sole pair of living birds. As they search for a safer, greener destiny, her skirts become their oasis.

"Night Water"

1980, oil on wood

Artist Quote: Imagine a primordial world where water has never existed. Creatures in this sphere have no concept of what it is yet sense its power even before it is brought to light. Then it opens, offering itself and changing the barren planet forever.

"Europa"

1980, oil on wood

Quote: This is another case where Michael Parkes took a myth and elaborated upon the story of Europa in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The legend has it that Europa was a princess of Tyre. Zeus was so enamored with her that he disguised himself as a gentle bull and succeeded in tempting her upon his back. She was thus carried away to sea to mother his three sons.

The River

oil on canvas, 1994

"Siddhartha had often heard all this before, all these numerous voices in the river but today they sounded different... They all belonged to each other: the lament of those who yearn, the laughter of the wise, the cry of indignation and the groan of dying... and all the voices, all the goals, all the pleasures, all the good and evil, all of them together was the world."

Hermann Hesse

Crescent Moon

oil on canvas, 1996

Quote: "Painting is one way in which I search for something that is near yet not clear to me. In Hindu symbolism, the sky is a physical representation of a higher mental consciousness.

(The sea is a representation of feelings and emotions)

The moon represents spirituality.

But those definitions can limit the painting. Try something after you hear an interpretation of a painting, let go of all words and meanings. With a quiet mind, your inner eye can become a window to another place."

Moon Harp

oil and pencil on paperboard, 1994

Quote: "This painting came about partly because my wife plays the harp. We were discussing what a wonderful metaphor the harp is for our inner life:the strings are grounded in the soundboard and yet stretch upward towards the sky. The tension between earth and sky must be just right to produce a beautiful tone. Only then are we in tune with our true self. The nakedness of the harpist reflects how we must strip ourselves of ego to allow the music to shine.