Talking with Erik Parker is like catching up with an old friend. Conversations with him flow like the current of a steady river—from unvarnished anecdotes about days-gone-by, to ruminations on the aesthetic brilliance of Parliament-Funkadelic, to the dangers of global warming. Regardless the topic, Erik Parker is stalwart and earnest. It is those same traits that make his art so compelling.
Even after nearly two decades as a professional artist, his work retains an authenticity that many attempt, but few master. Most recently, that mastery is evidenced by paintings which examine the “asymmetric information overload” of the contemporary American media milieu. The cartoonish chaos in these paintings underscores our fractal information diet, while suggesting that the media offers quantity over substance as it endlessly issues manufactured fear for public ingestion. Meanwhile, Parker’s own landscapes provide the counterpoint. These describe Zen scenes of alexipharmic water amid antediluvian beauty.
Life is balance and continuity—chaos and splendor. Parker’s art systemically reflects those polarities and the channels between. Here is Erik Parker in his own words, on the origins and scope of his artmaking.
