Counterpoint

Artist Talk – December 13

Hi, I’m Carolyn Parker, and my genre is media arts. This is my first Artist Talk here since becoming a collective member last December.

Before I begin, I’ll be reading from my script so I can stay true to the language I’ve been living with while making this work. Afterward, we can talk through any comments you may have.

These two works explore a thread I’ve been following since my earliest drawings—symbols that return again and again. The overarching theme that holds this study together is Counterpoint: opposing forces coexisting, informing each other, and creating meaning. Counterpoint isn’t conflict—it’s coexistence. This work helps me see how those tensions can become pathways.

I work with recurring motifs—vessels, weeds, language, identity, and discernment—as a way to understand transition. This past year brought significant change, and these pieces reflect that shift: the familiar being reexamined, old forms loosening, and the future still forming.

My process is a hybrid one. I draw from a large archive of my own digital imagery, and since 2023 I’ve incorporated Midjourney, Chat GPT, Copilot, and other digital and post-production tools—not to replace intuition, but to expand how I can engage with it.

If you’re curious about that generative process, I’ve prepared a document available at carolynparker.us/counterpoint/3.

Vessel of Memory is about holding and releasing—how time and experience create both structure and residue. It sits between what has been and what is emerging.

Fragments breaks from representation. It dissolves prior constructs—elements erupting from a symbolic vessel, suspended yet organizing themselves into something new. The oval, egg-like shapes hint at order and potential, even amid disruption.

My work often begins with writing, reflection, and sometimes lyrics for music—recently through SUNO Studio, an AI-assisted audio tool.

Each piece becomes a way to reckon with information—internal and external—and to turn it into insight. The work teaches me to trust what is emerging before I can name it.

Scripting, prompting, and filtering hold the shape of the work. What comes next becomes recognition of internal and external shifts, that I try to document and gain new holistic insights.

Thank you for listening. I’m happy to talk more about process or meaning if you’d like to dive deeper.