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Mercedes Parodi: LIP Online Talk

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    Past event – Wednesday 22 June 7pm via Zoom

    From Wavering to Steadfast © Mercedes Parodi

    Mercedes Parodi is a British photographic artist based in London and in Aix-En-Provence, France, where she studied photography at the Ecole Supérieure d’Art.

    Light captured amidst the fountains and statues in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles is the principle subject and medium of her extensive ongoing production spanning the last decade.

    She uses her spontaneous experimental and diverse light imagery in both highly constructed compositions and subconscious autonomous transformations to explore themes of self-empowerment, positive mindset transition and reconstruction.

    Immersed since 2010 in the 17th century mise-en-scene of power reflecting that of the Sun King, the artist sees herself on a journey that is not just a creative one. It is a psychological, philosophical and scientific journey into the realms of perception.

    The choice of this historical location may be explained to a certain extent by her favorite childhood book, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and love of the spectacular, plus a degree in Linguistic and International Relations, work as a translator in Paris and family life leading to a perpetual connection with France and its institutions.

    For Mercedes Parodi, when capturing multiple light sources, the camera records what she senses, rather than what her human eye can see, projecting a potential alternative reality. So it is no surprise that we find in her work personal reflections on the universal order of things, our interaction with the invisible metaphyscial forces that surround us and the very nature of existence.

    Quoting the contemporary American artist James Turrell, who said « Light is not so much something that reveals, as it is itself the revelation », she sees light today not only as a major factor in altering our sensorial perception of an environment, but also as a driving force, reflecting and interacting with our thought processes and state of mind. Her conceptual compositions are a metaphorical, symbolic and constructive presentation of light in positive response to cerebral and emotive challenges of the human condition.

    Over the last 6 years, Mercedes Parodi’s work has received multiple commendations in international photography competitions, and the series ‘You will always Be’ achieved finalist status in the London International Creative Competition (LICC) last year. The artist has also had two solo exhibitions in France and participated in the Photo50 group exhibition ‘Occupy the Void’, curated by Laura Noble, at the 2020 London Art Fair.