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LARA
RIVARD PARENT - PHOTOGRAPHER
ARTIST'S
STATEMENT "COLOR, STRUCTURE, SYMBOL"
"I am so often awe struck by the power
and beauty of colors as they respond to one another. Their potency
symbolizes life's intensity and the passion we bring to it. The
man-made structures in these images represent the foundations
that support us as we rise and fall with life's contrary experiences.
While it is the structures in life that we hold to when we need
solid footing, and the colors which stir and entice us, it is
in ordinary objects, such as a flower, feather, or fish, that
we are reminded of our own mortality and how ephemeral life truly
is. It is in their beauty and impermanence that our souls are
lifted and we can remember joy, even in the most tumultuous of
times.
This body of photographic constructions
begin with a structure which I have designed and built, or a
found object that I have transformed into a structure. The color-saturated
background fuses with the structure to take on a painterly quality.
In the foreground of each image is a simple object--usually found
in nature."
EDUCATION
Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI
M. Ed., December 1998, Summa Cum Laude,
Outstanding Student in Major; Major: Reading Education
B.A., May 1992, Magna Cum Laude
Major: English Minor: Elementary Education/Photography
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Major: English Minor: Art/Photography
SELECTED
EXHIBITIONS
Kendall College of Art and Design, Third Annual Competition,
Grand
Rapids, MI, 2000; Juror: Sandy Skogland
North Dakota Museum of Art, Type C Photographic Constructions,
Grand
Forks, ND, 1999-2000
Van Singel Fine Art Center, Color, Shape and Form, Byron Center,
MI, 1999
The Nines Gallery, "Petite Art by Colossal Artists",
Holland, MI, 1999
Thirdstone Gallery, selected works, Saugatuck, MI, 1998-present
Muskegon Museum of Art, Regional 66 and 71, Muskegon, MI, 1994,
1999;
Juror: Laurel Reuter
Holland Area Arts Council, Friends of the Arts, Holland, MI,
1996-1998
Lowell Area Arts Council, Annual Exhibition, Lowell, MI 1994,
1996, 1998
Grand Rapids Festival, Fine Arts Competition, Grand Rapids, MI,
1991-1999
Holland Area Arts Council, Annual Exhibition, Holland, MI, 1995-1999
Urban Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Autobiography/Biography,
Grand Rapids, MI 1994, Juror: Tara Robinson
Shibui Gallery, selected works, Grand Rapids, MI, 1993-1994
The Enclave, "Desire, Irony, Red, Flesh, Kaleidoscope",
five
contemporary women photographers, Grand Rapids, MI 1993
Midland Arts Council, Annual Exhibition, Midland, MI, 1993
United Arts Council, Art Exhibition, Battle Creek, MI, 1993
Fountain Street Church, "The Art of Women", Grand Rapids,
MI, 1992
Lansing Art Gallery, Annual Photography Exhibition, Lansing,
MI 1992
AUCTIONS
Room 222,
Annual Girl Scounts Auction, Grand Rapids, MI, 2000
North Dakota Museum of Art, Autumn Art Auction, Grand
Forks, ND, 1999
Northwest Art Center, "Americas 2000", Minot,
ND, 1999
South Haven Center for the Arts, "Powers of Ten"
Art Auction, South Haven, MI, 1999
Very Special Arts, Annual Auction, Grand Rapids, MI, 1999
Urban Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Jump Start
Auction, Grand Rapids, MI 1994, 1999, 2000; Autobiography/Biography,
1994
SELECTED AWARDS AND PROJECTS
Northwest Art Center, "Americas 2000", Purchase Award,
Minot, ND,
1999 Muskegon Museum of Art, Regional 71, Trustee's Award, Muskegon,
MI,1999
Grand Rapids Festival, Fine Arts Competition, Purchase Awards,
Grand Rapids, MI, 1998, 1999; Honorable Mention, 1991
Lansing Art Gallery, Annual Photography Exhibition, Lansing,
MI 1992, Honorable Mention
Holland Public Schools, "Hands-on, Minds-on Science and
Children",
Commission for the Holland Public Schools' Administration Building,
1998-1999 Holland Area Arts Council, Expanded Visions, Photography
Mentor to At-Risk Youth, Holland, MI, 1994
COLLECTIONS
North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND
Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI
The City of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, MI
The Holland Museum and Historical Trust, Holland, MI
Biography
After having lived half of her childhood
in Grosse Pointe City, Michigan (in
the same house where three generations of her family previously
lived), and
the other half in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lara Rivard Parent
studied
art and photography at Michigan State University and Grand Valley
State
University in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as she was pursuing
her
teaching degree.
She has been exhibiting her Type C color
photographs and silver gelatin
prints in galleries and exhibitions since 1991. Rivard Parent’s
work has
been purchased by Grand Valley State University and the City
of Grand Rapids
for their permanent collections. Her photographs are also in
the permanent
collection of the North Dakota Museum of Art, the Holland Museum
and
Historical Trust, as well as many private collections. Recent
awards
include, the Muskegon Museum of Art’s Trustee’s Award
and various purchase
awards from the Grand Rapids Festival of Arts annual all media
competition.
In 1998-1999, Rivard Parent was commissioned
by the Holland Public School
District, in Holland, Michigan, to create a series of large format,
hand-colored, silver gelatin prints that would showcase their
innovative
science curriculum. In 1994, she mentored at-risk youth in her
community as
a part of a national photography project entitled, “Expanded
Visions”
through the Holland Area Arts Council. She is also actively involved
with
local and national arts organizations by donating art work for
auctions.
Recently Rivard Parent debuted one-half of her recent body of
work, “Color,
Structure, Symbol”, in a two person show at the Gainey Gallery
in Byron
Center, Michigan, and currently exhibiting the other half of
the work at the
North Dakota Museum of Art.
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