Today let’s visit Cornelia Parker in her studio in east London. Parker is well known for her large installation pieces, including several installations where she took pieces of buildings that had been destroyed, hanging the pieces in a state of suspended destruction. Two of the installations featured the fragments of former churches that had succumbed to fires in one manner or another, with installations made up of suspended cubes of small fragments of charred wood.

Parker’s studio looks incredibly clean and bright – like an ultra-modern apartment. Because so many of her works are installations, a lot of the dirty, hands-on work is done in the gallery space itself, while the studio would be used for planning, sketching, and creating mock-ups. In this photo it looks like Cornelia is working on an installation piece, or has a mock-up installed in the gallery space. I like the rustic style kitchen chairs and table that she has in her space, they add an interesting bit of personality to a space that otherwise could be rather cold. It’s great to see a big, overflowing bookcase in the corner, as well!

Fascinated with changes in matter and comical means of destruction, Parker’s works often use materials that have been destroyed or changed through destructive means – whether this is by the art artist as a part of her process, or happened beforehand. As such many of her materials are acquired in strange places, not necessarily in an art-supply store. In several pieces she uses or appropriates historical artifacts and art pieces, either adding new elements to change the pieces, or using the objects in installations.  

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