New Zealand artist Rosemary Parcell was born at Tarras, Central Otago and graduated from Ilam Art School. She has painted and exhibited regularly since 1975 and has taught Art and Art History in NZ and Australian secondary schools, in Dunedin, Gisborne and Auckland and Melbourne. Her subject is mainly of figures and still life. Being passionate about horse riding and in particular the discipline of dressage has seen this translates into a very contemporary version of the horse.
This latest work, the horse compositions, are a continuation of the still life theme, with rather more studies of the discipline of structural detail, and more emphasis on the choreography of Dressage, as a series of numerical relationships. But essentially they still deal with arrangements of the figure within the frame.

"What I have always wanted to express in this imagery is the definition of the weight and mass of the horse, as well as the power and elegance in articulation. This is so clearly seen in dressage, itself an art form based on both physical and visual aesthetics. Dressage enhances the way a horse moves naturally, and at its best shows full harmony between horse and rider; horse and rider become a single entity. My intention is that my paintings should celebrate the athleticism and eloquence of this discipline, which demands a monumental approach, with simplicity and scale.”
"Also, the point is to catch the intrinsic quality of the movement..not always technically correct, and mostly not evident in photo records, ...which is why it is better to watch and draw, better to remember and construct, rather than to copy minutely from photos, because this best expresses the way the horse actually goes.

"To answer the criticism of the cropped rider's head, usually from non-riders: in fact if the rider is very capable s/he becomes invisible, and the horse appears to go miraculously of it's own volition without evident direction, and really the rider is identifiable by their hands and seat alone, their position.. And further, the second face or psyche is such a distraction, a double point of focus, very diffusive and destabilising to the composition, and so often the human face betrays such effort and angst. Also it is then possible to imagine the rider to be anyone, even one's self.