Gina Parr Photography

Gina Parr's photography explores nature, memory and identity through the marks, stains and textures of weathered surfaces. Working in the liminal space between abstraction and figuration, absence and presence, she "paints with her camera", framing what she finds and printing it exactly as found.

Her photographs are often mistaken for her paintings, revealing a continuing symbiosis between her two practices. Charged with emotion, her images invite viewers to bring their own sensate experience to the work.

Nature, Memory and Identity

Parr's practice is shaped by her childhood, divided between sea fishing for mackerel with her father and the more turbulent atmosphere of home. The mood and narrative of both experiences run through her work.

Painting with a Camera

A painter as well as a photographer, Parr builds her paintings through layers of oil, charcoal, pastel and acrylic, scratching, drawing, removing and adding until the surface is reconciled. Away from the studio, she carries this approach into photography, searching for her paintings within the marks, stains, colours and textures of distressed walls and other surfaces, some laid down intentionally or accidentally by others.

Travels and Series

To date, Parr has produced photographic series in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Cuba, France, Spain, Morocco and, most recently, Italy, with works found in the walls of Naples, Pompei, Ravello and Salerno.

Colour and Its Absence

Colour plays a central role across both practices. Sometimes its absence excites her, sometimes she feels a visceral need for dark intensity, but the result is always emotionally charged. This stems from a childhood need to find her space within the chaos of home, and leads to a longing for emotive and visual balance that she hopes will speak to the viewer.

Across painting and photography, Parr is seeking a topography that is wholly hers, formed out of past chaos, present state of mind and future expectations. Discover her paintings on her Rise Art painter profile.