I am a figurative surrealist oil painter, interested in an imaginary world that is nuanced, sly, quirky, dark, uncanny and fabular. I use a theatrical cast of characters: queens, young girls, flora and fauna, predator and prey to play out aspects of my memories, persona and concerns, bringing a sense of stability through a variety of real and mythical scenarios.
I examine the tension between opposites in both the substantive thematic territory and my work in its formal aspects. I am interested in the balance between old and new, comfortable and uncomfortable, safe and unsafe, discretion and confession. Although my work appears mannered and removed, it is in fact autobiographical in nature.
My heart kept aching.
So, I wanted to forget as time passed into brushstrokes what that meant.
Still, I'll hold out my hand. To take it is the door for you into the calm and chaos of wonder's land.
Whimsy and humor, with a dash of pain.
A storyteller am I.
Come all and play inside.
This, my Utopian dream.
Twin City-based figurative surrealist painter, Margo Selski-Parker's collides old world regal design with 21st century concerns with the intention to examine her life through a mirror at a distance. Through excessive accumulation, revisions and camouflage she freezes the movement of life in a permeable disguise of theatrical fantasy.
Her provocative oil and beeswax paintings have been featured in several solo exhibitions including Plains Art Museum, Hollywood Glass Garage Fine Art Gallery, Richard J Demato Fine Art NY Gallery, the Minneapolis Art Institute International, the University of Minnesota, Illinois Central College, Saint Cloud State University, Augsburg College, Rochester Museum of Arts Center, the Arkell Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Her work has been recognized for its excellence, producing numerous awards and honors and has been collected by various museums including the Plains Art Museum, Tweed Museum, Frederick Weisman Museum, the Contemporary Museum of Art in Colorado, The Clymer Museum of Art, Springfield Museum, Ohio of Art, Wooster Art Museum, Allen County Art Museum and the North Dakota Museum of Art.
She has been featured in a variety of publications including See Yourself X. Human Futures Expanded by Madeline Schwartzman, Alice Inspiration, by Carolina Amell, Fine Art Connoisseur, The New York Times, American Art Collector, The Advocate, ARTNews, Juxtapoz, Arts and Antiques, The Observer, and The Huffington Post.
Her collectors include, David Thewlis, William Duke of Cambridge and Duchess of Cambridge, Hugh Hefner, Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga, The Bennet Collection, Richard J Demato, Grace and Robert Strangis, The Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman