BECKY
PARRISH
All artwork images courtesy of the artist.
“I choose still life as an artform, because it allows me to control all of the above-mentioned elements. Still life in general is limited in depth and space, therefore, it is a challenge when developing an arrangement to try and capture that multi-layered sense space on the two dimensional surface of the canvas.”
— Becky Parrish, American Art Collector, January 2013
“Parrish burst onto the Washington, D.C. scene in 1996, after receiving an MFA from The George Washington University. Her timeless still lifes were recognized for their gentle color harmonies and dynamic compositions. She quickly became the darling of the Virginia art world.” - Still Lifes and The Allure of Nature, Charleston Mercury, 2008
“Orlean artist, Becky Parrish, ranks among the area’s most promising professional painters. Exciting color contrasts, deft use of light and dark and excellent knowledge of shapes and planes identify her major work.” - The Fauquier Citizen, 2001
“It is exciting to see the paint itself, knifed, slashed, scraped, and brutally applied, contrasted with the opposite delicacy inherent in a flower. This is a new direction in her art; well worth the exploration.” - Accomplished Area Artist Successfully Reconciles Opposites, K. M. Christie, President Emeritus/Global Communicators (former Press Officer, National Endowment of the Arts), May 2010
“She employs techniques of blocking in generalized colored masses which she then allows to cure. They are then over painted, scraped away and finally, reworked in selected areas. The end result is that Parrish’s paintings are never simply surface renderings and, thus merely facades of reality. Rather, they have a multi-layered density which is both physical and emotional. Parrish probes the expressive possibilities inherent in the medium of oil paint, while concurrently exploring the reconciliation of a credible reality and pure abstract and seemingly limitless energy.” - Dr. Lilien F. Robinson, Professor of Art History, The George Washington University, Co-Editor of Antoine-Louis Barye (The Corcoran Gallery of Art)
“At first observation, these still lifes may simply appear as nicely arranged objects, however, the underlying calculated composition—the choreography of curves and counter curves, geometric and organic forms, intersecting diagonals, overlapping of form, minimized color and the nervous brushwork—result in a pervasive energy, which moves the eye around the canvases.” - The Piedmont Virginian, 2009
“Parrish’s still lifes are calculated and choreographed compositions of lyrical and colorful harmonies.”- The Post and Courier, 2008
“Ms. Parrish tediously constructs her subject matter. She may rearrange a bowl of fruit several times before finding the perfect display. She admits that a single canvas may have four layers of paint, resulting in repeated attempts to achieve the look she wants.” - The Fauquier Citizen, 2005
“Becky Parrish, who studied with him (William Woodward) at GW did many of the faces on the images, continued working on the mural until is was completed. Parrish, who teaches art at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, is an accomplished portrait painter.” - A Long View of Medicine, Hospital Mural Illustrates Landmark Moments in Treating Disease, Jean Geddes, The Washington Post, 2001