Born 1993 | Lives and works between London and Somerset (UK)
Daisy Parris (born 1993 in Kent, UK) is a young British painter who is making their first appearance at Makasiini Contemporary this fall. In the title of the exhibition, Rocks are Heavy, Parris alludes to a poem they wrote called “Survival Poem”, an adaptation of the late Dorothy Parker’s work “Resume” published in 1926, on which many of the paintings for this body of work are based.
After reading “Resume” as a teenager, the poem became a mantra for Parris, exploring themes of life, death and depression in a way that was accessible to them. It also introduced them to the opportunity of grappling with the idea of survival – a want to survive and a recognition that death is as hard as life. The paintings in the exhibition are a navigation through the depths of their experience, twists, turns and questions but are ultimately and profoundly about hope.
These are hopeful paintings that touch on serious themes and hold hands with depression. Dorothy Parker uses humour to deal with such themes and I use colour. Her poem is a mantra for survival, and I wanted to continue that by adapting it to reference things in the contemporary landscape that are familiar to me.
– Daisy Parris, September 2021
Parris’ painting echoes many of the structures and rhythms of the poem, in this case, heavy brushstrokes against scratches and linear motifs as regular arrangements and a vernacular of colour that rivals any beat per line. They use the literary devices of repetition in their mark making; heavy downpours of paint, exposed and collaged canvas, text and code-like symbols developed over years of distillation.
In Parker’s work, “Resume”, the reader is part of the narrative. Parris explores this adeptly, putting themselves and viewer at the centre of the work, not only contemplating death and suicide but free choice, life and our ability to form our own path. Through this body of work, Parris considers the possibility of what they want, an understanding of what experiences would be like and the effect of choice over survival and hope.
Parris lives and works between Stockholm and London, UK and holds BA (Hons) Fine Art from Goldsmiths University, London. They have previously exhibited broadly in Europe and the US. This is Parris’ first solo exhibition in Finland.
