Jill Parisi has established her work throughout the United States including solo exhibitions at A.I.R. Gallery, NYC; Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, New York; Wright Gallery, Kingston, New York; and Zea Mays Printmaking, Florence, Massachusetts. Between 1998 and 2000 she was awarded three Special Opportunity Stipend Grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Parisi received an MFA degree in printmaking and a BFA degree in painting from State University of New York at New Paltz where she was awarded a fellowship in the Art Studio Department.

“My works are imaginary ecosystems whose ethereal and ephemeral qualities reflect an exploration of and a reverence for nature. These fantastic worlds take their direction from observing various processes of life. Birth, growth, and decay transcend species, gender, class, time and geography. By focusing on the minute details of various species and extracting and manipulating certain fragments, the work speaks of the common threads shared between the microscopic world and the universe. The inhabitants of these uncharted ecosystems are plants and creatures that are by turns familiar, alien, aquatic, terrestrial, or of the air. They possess a fragile quality that nonetheless evokes the strength of the life cycle, the behavior of botanical and zoological forms, and nature’s ordered and temporal qualities. With a careful hand and a great deal of patience I work with a variety of media, most often combining hand-stiching and sculptural forming with drawings and intaglio techniques.

Many of these pieces are interactive as they respond to the flow of air within the exhibition space and are stirred into motion by the proximity of the viewer. This effect attests to the universe’s constant state of flux, making the pieces very much alive in their movement and relationship to local environs. Both a spontaneous whimsy and a deeper philosophical meaning are intended by this aspect. It addresses how we choose to observe and relate to the work, and question our degree of awareness as a presence or force in an environment both as individuals and a culture in the wake of a fast-paced, consumer-driven society.”

--Jill Parisi