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Come and View the Good Grief - Bald Statements Exhibition at the Hospice
Exhibition Open 4th – 28th September 2012
We are very excited and proud to be hosting the Good Grief Bald Statements Exhibition by the acclaimed sculptor Jean Parker.
The Exhibition will be open to the public on the following dates & times:-
Weekends
Saturday 8th September 10am - 1pm
Sunday 9th September 2pm - 5pm
Saturday 22nd September 10am - 1pm
Sunday 23rd September 2pm - 5pm
Evenings 5pm - 8pm
Thursday 13th September 5pm - 8pm
Tuesday 18th September 5pm - 8pm
Wednesday 26th September 5pm - 8pm
Click HERE to request information about the Exhibition.
The Story Behind the Good Grief Exhibition
A Study in Grief and Personal Loss
The Good Grief/Bald Statements exhibition was born as a reflection of Jean Parker’s own experience of cancer. The eight small terracotta heads emerged during the course of a seven-day silent Retreat, and present a powerful and unique visual exploration of the grief process. The images relate not only to loss of health but to significant loss of any kind.
The hope is that the exhibition will help stimulate discussion and the understanding of powerful emotions, which can feel overwhelming. To see these images as transitional stages and part of a natural process experienced by many may prove helpful and reassuring, offering glimpses of hope when all seems lost.
Each sculpture deals with an aspect of the grief process which is explained through the following stages:
DENIAL
I'm all right... Shocked, Stunned Protective mask?
DISBELIEF
NO! Pain, protest, indignation
QUESTIONING
Why? Search for meaning...Need to make sense of …
ANGER
Rage, anguish...Realisation of grim reality
DEPRESSION
Deep sadness...Despair, desolation
ACCEPTANCE
Awareness...Facing the reality of loss
HEALING
Moving on to a peaceful place
PEACE
Life no longer defined by the loss
About the artist, Jean Parker M.A.
Sculptor of Perception
Jean Parker studied art as a mature student for four years in Coventry and later completed an M.A. With a background of teaching and a family of four children, it was not until mid-life that the opportunity arose for her artistic creative energies to be given full expression. Her affinity for sculpture and gift as a modeller and carver soon became evident.
She works in stone, clay and bronze, and her themes are universal. Religion, psychology, and personal relationships provide an endless source of inspiration, expressed in both figurative and abstract form.
She exhibits widely and works largely to commission, lecturing, teaching and conducting workshops.
A review
In this exhibition, Jean Parker presents us with a body of work that is remarkable for several reasons. First and foremost, it was made as a reflection upon a period of illness and medical treatments and Jean’s desire to work within a range of feelings and emotions that she experienced during this time. She does this in ways that are not overtly literal or mawkish. The choices she has made in creating this work underline her integrity as a sculptor and the importance of this in her life.
There is a collection of terracotta heads that have an intimate, hand-worked quality. They effectively record a sense of fluctuating emotions during a time of reduced physical strength. This work has accessibility that Jean hopes can be developed and used in the future as an aid to people in similar circumstances. The major part of the exhibition is made up of an impressive group of large alabaster heads developed from the imagery of the small terracotta’s.
Jean’s careful selection of pink and white alabaster to work with is highly successful. The reds and pinks are all too reminiscent of flesh and wounds whilst the beautiful translucence of the white has an almost spiritual uplifting quality.
The boldness of strength, with which these larger pieces have been carved, relates back to some of the earlier work of Jacob Epstein. The blank, white face has similarities to the work of the contemporary British sculptor Stephen Cox who was greatly inspired by Indian sculpture.
Jean Parker’s work has a meditative, focussed quality which is rare at a time when many figurative artists who have chosen to deal with the vulnerability of the human body in a more violent and abject manner.
Mandy Havers
Request for the free loan of these sculptures and arrangements for workshops based on them can be made through:
Westhill Endowment
The Lodge
Westhill, South Drive
Selly Oak, Birmingham B29 6WE
T: 0121 472 7980 / 8000
F: 0121 415 8453
Reg Charity Number 1104736
E:
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or
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www.westhilltrust.org
© Westhill Endowment 2008
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