Bio
Jill Parry is an artist who works in a variety of mediums from oils on canvas, to works on paper, and as a fiber artist. She was born in Wales and studied art and design at Birmingham College of Art in the United Kingdom and additional studies at Slade School of Fine Art in London. Jill has wide involvement in the arts through her teaching, traveling, and exhibiting. She taught textile design at the University of Papua New Guinea and ran a hand-painted silks studio at Camden Lock in London. As a teaching artist, Jill has worked in many schools and community-based residencies creating large-scale installations. Jill has exhibited widely in museums and galleries and her work can be found in public and private collections worldwide. She currently works from her studio in Westchester, New York, and is the creative force behind Gallery B at the Rye Arts Center in Rye, New York. She has received an award from ArtsWestchester for her contribution to the arts in Westchester County.
Artist Statement
My artwork is a culmination of my background in drawing, textiles, design, and painting experience. Throughout my journey with different media, techniques, and subject matter my focus has constantly been a concern with the surface quality. In my paintings, I work in acrylic as well as oil paint. Building by layering and scraping out until a visual vocabulary emerges. I also incorporate printmaking, and drawing into the surface as part of the process. My intention is to create a surface that can tell a story through a visual language. The forms and lines that I use in my abstract work come from my observations and experiences of everyday life. Trees, folded fabrics, tangled threads, and open bags on my studio floor. I like the viewer to feel the physicality of the piece and experience and discover the history of the process on closer inspection. I sometimes leave some of my note-making embedded in the painting as an integral part of the piece.
