Going Nowhere 2020 

Curator: This oil painting is entitled "Going Nowhere 2020" by Michael Parkes. The blend of classical realism with elements of fantasy immediately struck me. What's your take? Editor: It feels…suspended. There's a stillness, almost a languor, but with an undercurrent of something restless, perhaps the tigers vigilance contrasting with the figures slumber. It’s dreamy yet strangely unsettling. Curator: That unsettling feeling might come from Parkes' deft manipulation of space and form. Notice how the composition is divided – the earthly realm of the woman and tiger, and the airy expanse occupied by the swans, all set against those stoic architectural features, those somewhat eroded pillars that barely support the composition’s ethereal tension. Editor: True, there's a clear dichotomy, not just earthly versus ethereal, but also safety versus freedom, confinement versus escape. Those swans, emblems of transformation, are heading somewhere, while the figure is literally, as the title suggests, going nowhere. I wonder, are they even aware of one another? The gaze is directed only to the sleeping woman and a vigilant Tiger, no recognition given to these graceful swans, or indeed, much beyond this self-contained space. Curator: Maybe the point *is* that lack of awareness. Parkes often explores the intersection of the physical and the spiritual, using animals and human forms to embody archetypal energies and universal patterns of behavior. This woman, she seems both vulnerable and powerfully protected. It reminds me of Jungian concepts of anima and shadow. Editor: A seductive paradox, which is cleverly expressed not only with symbolic components of Swans, Tigers, Nudes, Pillars but further enhanced with color, tonality, geometry, with how the texture feels to the eyes when they travel the image. It's more than mere visual depiction; it becomes an almost meditative experience that compels one to decode its many hidden dimensions. Curator: Parkes has certainly crafted something that lingers in the mind, that image has been staying with me, I'm impressed that, that you made me appreciate the duality of a simple portrait by looking closer, thinking critically! Editor: For me, art is all about that moment of recognition when something you didn't even realize you felt becomes manifest through form and color. It’s deeply satisfying!