Cornelia Parker in conversation with Rachel Campbell-Johnston
Join us in person or online for an insightful discussion between renowned artist Cornelia Parker CBE RA and former chief art critic at The Times, Rachel Campbell-Johnston.
The conversation will explore the role of drawing in Parker's diverse practice, which spans sculpture, installation, embroidery, photography, and film. This conversation is a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the creative process behind one of the UK’s most influential contemporary artists.
This conversation is the first in a suite of Creative Conversations designed to celebrate 25 years of the Royal Drawing School in 2025.
'Drawing of a lapwing', Cornelia Parker, 1974, pencil on paper, © Artist
Cornelia Parker: 'At the age of 15, I went on a school trip to London to visit the museums and galleries. It was truly transforming. The idea of someday becoming an artist was just beginning to germinate. I remember standing in the Tate, the first museum I’d ever entered, and thinking ‘perhaps one day, I’ll exhibit here’.
When I was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1997, my mother asked me if I wanted my drawing of a lapwing (made at the age of 18) to exhibit in the Tate show. It proudly hung on my parents’ wall; they thought it was the best thing I’d ever done. When they both died, a few weeks apart in 2007, the drawing became mine again. On seeing it, my 6-year-old daughter Lily was amazed by my skill: ‘I never knew you could actually draw properly, Mum!’ Inspired she dashed off various copies of her own in a much freer hand.’
Cornelia Parker, born in Cheshire, England, in 1956, studied at Gloucestershire College of Art & Design, Wolverhampton Polytechnic, and earned her MA in Fine Art from the University of Reading in 1982.
Her work explores themes of destruction, transformation, and reconfiguration. Known for using intense methods like shooting, exploding, and burning, Parker transforms objects while actively engaging in their evolving story.
Her work is part of major collections worldwide, including Tate, the Centre Pompidou, and the Museum of Modern Art. Parker was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1997 and became a Royal Academy of Arts member in 2010. In 2022, she was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to the arts. She has also been commissioned to create works for King Charles III’s coronation in 2023.
Rachel Campbell-Johnston was chief art critic for The Times newspaper for 20 years. During her tenure at The Times, she was also a leader writer and obituarist. She has a PhD in poetry, she has worked for several years as a shepherd, lived in El Salvador and the Amazon rainforest and is the author of, among other things, a biography of the painter Samuel Palmer and a prize-winning young-adults book about child-soldiers and elephants. She now lives on and runs a small farm on Exmoor and writes journalism and books.
Cover image: Detail from 'Drawing of a lapwing', Cornelia Parker, 1974, pencil on paper, © Artist