Winds of Change 

Editor: So, this is Michael Parkes' drawing "Winds of Change," created using pencil on what looks like toned paper. It’s really evocative. It gives me a sense of mythology, but also…a fragile beauty. What strikes you most about it? Curator: It's interesting you mention fragility. For me, this drawing is anything but passive. The figure’s positioning, caught in this swirling, almost tempestuous circle, speaks to a powerful sense of agency. Note how Parkes doesn’t depict her as simply *having* wings. They’re integrated, almost like an extension of her emotional state, contributing to this ‘wind of change.’ It almost challenges the traditional depiction of winged figures being passive subjects of destiny. Do you see that tension? Editor: I think so. There's definitely movement, even in a still image, like she's actively creating her own wind. But what about the choice of such soft pencil work for such a potentially strong theme? Does that create some kind of contradiction? Curator: Not necessarily. Think about the role of art in portraying figures of resistance, even going back to Classical sculptures. The very medium through which you represent it becomes equally charged. In the same way that Black activists during the Civil Rights era might deliberately adopt an aesthetics of respectability, Parkes may be suggesting that softness and vulnerability are not inherently signs of weakness. Editor: That's fascinating. It gives the work so many more layers. Thanks for showing me new ways of reading the drawing, moving beyond a purely aesthetic approach. Curator: Absolutely. Always question what narratives an artwork upholds or subverts. I also find myself considering what happens next, as if she is about to break from this static, enclosed form. Perhaps, that break itself is where true power lies?