Lucinda Parker
Opening Reception Thursday, April 6, 5:30–7:00 p.m.
For the month of April, Russo Lee Gallery presents Fiji Suite by Lucinda Parker. This body of work was created in the mid-2000s while visiting Namena, an island in Fiji. Parker is known for making energetic paintings inspired by natural forms. For this exhibition, her gestural and layered style continues to be apparent. Landscapes are alive with different kinds of tropical trees and vines which twist in and around the trunks. Paintings of fish, observed while snorkeling in the sea, are rendered in the artist’s distinctive color palette. Additionally, Parker created portraits of the Fijian people. No photos were used. The artist asked permission to sketch her subjects and often invited them to sit for her while she painted directly on paper.
Originally from Boston, Lucinda Parker received a BA jointly from Reed College and the Pacific Northwest College of Art, in Portland, OR, and an MFA from Pratt Institute, New York. Her work has been exhibited at numerous one-person shows throughout the Pacific Northwest and nationally. The Portland Art Museum honored her with a mid-career retrospective in 1995, and the Boise Art Museum presented a one-person exhibition of her work in 2002. She was also included in the Bonnie Bronson Fellows twenty-year retrospective at Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR. Parker’s work is part of collections throughout the Northwest. Major public collections include the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, the Portland Art Museum, and the Seattle Art Museum. Public commissions can be found at the Oregon Convention Center, Portland City Hall, and a federal courthouse in Bakersfield, California, among others. She is currently working on a major public commission through the Washington State Arts Commission for the Department of Labor & Industries in Tumwater, WA.