Michael Parkes

Michael Parkes was born in 1944 in Sikestone Missouri (USA). He studied graphic art and painting at the University of Kansas. As a student, Parkes was fascinated by various graphic processes and he later became proficient in the difficult medium of the colour stone lithograph. Many of his recent works have been produced as Aurographics, limited edition giclee prints. His ultimate goal was to turn his attention to creating art. His unique style evolved in isolation, after a period in which he gave up the practice of art altogether and went to India in search of philosophical illumination. His study of philosophy and the esoteric doctrines of the East and the West were of great influence to his artwork.

Early on, he painted in the generally abstract expressionist style common among his teachers. Later he began to draw and paint in a meticulous style of detailed representation. This style is realistic in principle, but often uses magical subject matter, with imagery drawn from a range of traditions including the cabalistic and the tantric. Metaphysical and spiritual elements are joined into reality. His artworks evoke a mysterious atmosphere, often only to be deciphered with the help of ancient mythology and eastern philosophy.

In 1992 Michael Parkes began creating a number of bronze sculptures, successfully released in small editions. Michael Parkes is a uniquely talented painter, a master of the art of stone lithography and a master of the creation of bronze sculptures.