The World Of Matt Parker

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January newsletter: The coming together of a project

An image from my nearly finished project MindGhosts

It has been a creative month

I have been creating at least one image every day. They seem to flow out of me at the moment. I hope that you too are feeling similarly creatively inspired.

What I’ve been up to this month

My new project is nearly finished! The series of abstracts from my local river The Bybrook is entitled MindGhosts. I have a tentative sequence. And I have been creating words for it with the help of the excellent workshop from Rob Knight and Ian Hill entitled The Word. I am really excited about this project. There will be a zine soon but I do not feel that this will be the end of the project: I am still busy making images.

There is a new series of images from this work on my website.

Meanwhile, you can still purchase one of the final copies of Floor At The Arnolfini zine. Find out more here.

My greetings cards are also available. These are all based on my States of Mind series. I am selling them online in packs of four for £10 plus P&P. Purchase cards here.

What I learned this month

This month I learned the value of free writing about my work. MindGhosts is about reality, imagination and memory. But it took me a while to work this out: I needed to write about what came to mind when I had images in front of me. This process really helped me to piece together the meaning behind the work I was making.

I also learned how writing a few words about an image can add a whole new dimension. There needs to be enough space for people to create their own thoughts and interpretations. But words can help bring new context to images.

What are my plans for next month?

In the next few weeks I hope to bring MindGhosts together as a zine. I also want to work out what the follow up will look like.

But I also want to have time to play. There are a lot of images on my drive that I would like to revisit. I will approach them with no plans or preconceptions. It will just be interesting to see what I can make of them.

What I’ve been writing about this month

This month I shared my views on The Importance Of Creating Images With Intent. I think it is really important to understand why we make images. I would be really interested to hear your views on this. You can read the article here. There’s a useful five-minute exercise to carry out as well.

What have I been reading this month

I have been fascinated by Cal Flyn’s Islands Of Abandonment. Beautifully written, it dives deep into our effect on the planet and he planet’s resilience. Despite the tales of destruction, the book also offers hope for the future of our world.

What have I watched this month

My film of the month is definitely All Of Us Strangers. The themes within it definitely influenced MindGhosts. It is a film that plays on one’s sense of reality and is definitely worth watching.

Make sure you keep in touch

You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Mastodon as well as Bluesky. Please also e-mail directly: I really appreciate receiving personal e-mails from you. Please share images and projects send me recommendations for reading, listening, exhibitions, blog articles and more!

If you liked the newsletter, please do share it with friends and encourage them to sign up.

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