Jacqueline Dee Parker
the keeping room: an episode of vessels
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am inspired by ancient Greek pottery because it feels deeply human—shaped by hand, integrated into daily life, and embedded with stories that resonate across time. These vessels function simultaneously as utilitarian objects and cultural archives, bearing belief systems, rituals, and identities through form, surface, and use. They remind me that meaning is often preserved through touch, repetition, and design, rather than permanence alone.
Much of my practice is centered on creating abstract spaces—visual “rooms” where memory can settle. In this body of work, that impulse has shifted toward the construction of vessels. Drawing from the legacy of ancient pottery, I approach the vessel as both container and storyteller. I imagine these forms holding the verbal and musical echoes of those who shaped me—relatives, friends, artists and writers—preserving fragments of love, language, and influence.
In a world unmoored by chaos and disbelief, I intend for these vessels to serve as safekeepers of truth and beauty.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in New York City and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Parker’s creative life bridges literature and visual art. She earned a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in Creative Writing/Painting, and Drawing from Louisiana State University. Her vintage paper collages and mixed-media paintings have been widely exhibited and are held in private, public, corporate, and museum collections. As a poet, her work appears in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Atlanta Review, The Southern Review, and Chelsea, among others. She is the recipient of a 2007 Artist Fellowship from the Louisiana State Division of the Arts and a 2021 Individual Artist Career Opportunity Grant from South Arts. Reflecting her interdisciplinary practice, Parker taught for three decades at Louisiana State University, first in the Department of English and later in the School of Art. Before settling in Louisiana, she lived and worked as a freelance graphic layout artist in New York City, Boston, and Detroit. Her work is represented by Ann Connolly Fine Art (LA), Devin Borden (TX) and Picture Room (NY), and she is an artist member of the Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art. Parker lives in Baton Rouge with her husband, cellist and sculptor Dennis Parker, and their puppy, Pipilotte.
This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Eleanor Owen Kerr and Herb Roe. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from February 27 - March 22, 2026.