margaret parker studio
                                   Artist Statement

For me art is about participation - how the artwork invites the viewer to
enter into the imaginative process. The space that the artwork creates
then becomes a transformational space, like the set of an opera where
epic stories unfold. In my art I attempt to make a participatory experience
where people enter a metaphorical space to become the actors, authors
and singers of their own epic. Installation in public spaces, both
temporary and permanent, have been part of my practice for 20 years
and that's what excites me most. Work that is installed in the public realm
reaches the widest audience and has the power to engage and change a
whole community.

Since 9/11, I've been exploring what it means to be human in a global
age, and what kind of space can help us create an understanding of
global humanity. What consumes me when I make art is how to express
these themes that are so complex and so pressing. If art is not attempting
to engage these themes, it is not reflecting our deepest lives.

I see myself as an American, carrying on the tradition of building a New
World.
All images copyrighted by Margaret Parker © 2008. Do not use without artist's permission.


Escape/Return Escape/Regresso:
A Participatory Installation
at
53 Commerce, Grand Rapids, MI
for

Art Prize
September 23 to October 10

An ambitious art show matches
artists and sites online and then
takes over the city of Grand Rapids in
one of the largest venues ever
attempted in Michigan.

www.artprize.org

Ford Assembly,
2009

8 bronze sculptures based
on the concept of the
assembly line

I am now showing my work
as a Visiting Artist at the
WSG Gallery
302 S. Main St.
 Ann Arbor, MI