Mandy Jayme Parkinson
BA (Hons) Fine Art
As a painter and sculptor, my work often addresses issues regarding animal rights, environmentalism and politics, unafraid to confront the difficult dilemmas of the world, I strive to create a dialogue with the audience to bring important issues to the table and encourage discussion. My work also touches on the dilemmas of being dual ethnicity, where I struggle to come to terms with my ancestry that is deeply rooted in colonialism, I explore how imperialism affects mine and many people's identities to this day who are from colonised lands.
For my degree show, I have submitted 'The Garden of Intention' as a spiritual journey into the roots of Buddhism, which was the religion of my country prior to colonialism. In this piece, I have filled an installation space with 100kg of black sand (to mimic a modern zen garden) and ceramic vessels, for the audience to put their scrolled-up paper on which they have written something that they are grateful for. The idea is that when intention is being put into gratitude, one attracts great abundance into their life, a concept I have used from Chinese spirituality. The space is completely interactive so that the audience can spend time within it and hopefully find a sense of peace, hope and clarity.
