Jenny Parsons is an urban landscape painter working mostly in oil on
canvas and chalk pastel.
The city of Cape Town, with its areas of pristine nature interlocking with
dense human habitation, provides a rich and diverse engagement for
this artist. Parsons’ paintings of Cape fynbos, the vegetation that is
endemic to the Cape Peninsula, are a significant part of her exploration
of brush mark, colour and light.
“For me, a landscape painting is not merely a visual representation of
the world. It is a metaphor for the human condition, in all its mystery. I
paint to try to make sense of the fragility of our world, the passing of
time, and our shared experiences of light, air, colour and space. Painting
the land continues to be a way of engaging with the strangeness of
being here”.
Parsons’ latest paintings explore the existence of nature within the city.
“Cultivated gardens, degraded public land and the grass verges of our
suburbs are landscapes that lack the grandiosity of the pristine. The
plants that inhabit these urban man-made spaces are a visual language
all of their own. They speak of our history, our politics and the ways in
which we engage with nature”.