Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1175260
I N - D E P T H 60 OCTOBER 2019 pushes objects around, arranging them just so. "I know intuitively when something is going right," she says. "Sometimes it may work from a visual point of view, but it's not saying something to someone or to me. So it gets tossed out." Her early training as an art historian and painter has resulted in particularly moody works reminiscent of the still-life paintings found in 17th-century Dutch and Spanish traditions. Her work reflects whatever Parker is reading at the moment and the things that she's deeply curious about, which includes the history of both science and art. "The parallels are amazing," says Parker. "People who are making art are going off the edge of a map, which is very similar to people doing scientific research—they're going off the edge of a map, too." In 1995, a skiing accident left Parker on crutches for a year, unable to work in the darkroom or studio. She set her sights on learning the emerging technologies of digital composition and editing. Her 1996 photograph The Murderer's Brain features an actual brain in a jar that was removed from a convicted murderer from the 19th century, when scientists thought the brain had physical characteristics that would indicate a penchant for violence. Next to it is a page from a book on phrenology, the pseudo-science popular in the same century that associates human character with the shape and appearance of the skull. Three profiles to the left are from a 16th-century treatise that compared human faces Olivia Parker with her puppy. PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIC ROTH 15 MARKET STREET, IPSWICH, MA | 978-356-2776 HAIRCRAFTERSIPSWICH.COM • Body waxing • Dermablading • Eyelash extensions • Facial waxing • Facials • Facial treatments • Hair coloring • Hair cutting • Make-up • Mani-pedi's • Spray tan • Up-do's Hair Crafters is your one stop salon for all your hair, nails and skin needs.