For Parsons a landscape painting is a place for the eye and mind to play – where the experience of the landscape and the act of painting hold equal importance.

Her work shows a fascination with vertical objects on the landscape – trees, buildings, lampposts and other structures; as well as the “drawings” on the land created by roads, paths and other demarcations. These elements suggest and in fact replace a human presence. The visual conversation between horizontal and vertical, mass and detail, solidity and fragility further explore the human relationship to the land.

Parsons' latest paintings are made from bird's eye view drawings of Sea Point and Greenpoint in Cape Town. The very substance of the paint and the act of painting, with its markmakings, layerings and oblitorations, speaks of the history of the land.

EDUCATION
Born (1967) and schooled in Durban, Jenny graduated from the Natal Technikon with a Higher National Diploma in Fine Arts in 1988.

EXPERIENCE
After graduating, she held two solo exhibitions in Durban as well as participating in numerous group exhibitions. She worked as a lecturer for the Natal Technikon Short Courses Unit and for the Natal Society of Arts until moving to Cape Town in 1991.

Jenny has since worked with a number of art and educational institutions including Community Arts Project, the Durbanville Cultural Society and the Ruth Prowse College of Art and Design where she was head of the Fine Art department in 1998 and 1999.

In 1996, together with artists Mary Visser and Diana Page, she started the Boudoir Biscuits, a collective of women artists. The group have collaborated on numerous projects and exhibitions. In 2002 the Biscuits were one of three finalists in the Cape Town Convention Centre National art competition. This project was redeveloped and in 2003 they were awarded the design contract for the carpets in the Judges Chambers in the New Constitutional Court Building in Johannesburg.

Jenny works as a professional artist from her studio in Woodstock.

EXHIBITIONS
Elizabeth Gordon Gallery (solo for Higher Dip.FA), Durban, 1988
NSA Gallery (with Robin Moodley), Durban, 1989
"Durban Scene", Elizabeth Gordon Gallery, Durban 1990
Grassroots Gallery (solo), Durban, 1990
"Mustardseed & Moonshine", Chelsea Gallery, Cape Town, 1993
Ibis Gallery (Boudoir Biscuits group show), Nieu Bethesda, 1997
Boudoir Biscuits Installation at MCQP Shopping Trolley Project, 1997
Irma Stern Gallery (Boudoir Biscuits group show), Cape Town, 1998
"Postcards from South Africa", Axis Gallery, New York, 1999
Studio Exhibition, Observatory, 2001
Irma Stern Museum (solo), Cape Town, 2004
3rd i Gallery (solo), Cape Town, 2005
AVA Gallery (solo), Cape Town, 2006
The Cape Gallery, Cape Town, 2007

COLLECTIONS
Natal Technikon Permanent Collection
First National Bank
South African Brewerys
Grindrod Shipping
General Cologne Reinsurance
de Grendel Winery
Collection of Lady Graaff
Collection of Beryl Brink
Collection of James and Brenda Gourley
Collection of Pieter-Dirk Uys
Collection of Neville Tricket
Collection of Kate Carlyle
Carpets in the Judges' Chambers, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg (Boudoir Biscuits collaboration with the women of St Anne's Home, Cape Town)