Jonathan Parnham

To evoke the atmosphere, light, texture, movement and sounds from each environment that he discovers, the current practice by Jonathan Parnham initially involves painting on location. His en plein air works are often created in many capricious weather conditions whilst working amongst: Icelandic and Swiss glaciers, the Jungfrau mountain range, Wiltshire Downs, Cornish coastlines and the many sublime lakes to be found across Britain.

The ‘Sea Ice’ series of monotypes represent the artist’s observations involving the startling reality of Iceland’s rapidly retreating glaciers, in juxtaposition to their extreme beauty. Amongst the Jungfrau mountain range, engaging hikes have inspired searching paintings which highlight the erosion of this inspiring topography. Back in the studio, the experience of working outdoors provides rich stimulus for creating expressive, larger scale monotypes and paintings.

A collection of recent prints and paintings have been exhibited at: Penwith Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall; Mount House Gallery, Marlborough, Wiltshire; New Craftsman Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall, the Polar Artists Collective (online) and Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London (2020, 2021 & 2023). Jonathan Parnham studied at Leicester University and the Royal College of Art. His work is held in various public and private collections including Chippenham Museum Wiltshire and the Royal College of Art. He has also previously won international awards for his short, fine art animated films in Portugal and Czechoslovakia, and was previously shortlisted for the Carton D’Or Award for best international animated short film. Jonathan currently divides his time between working in art education, curating exhibitions and his own practice as an artist.