Parminder Cruikshank
Fine Art
Current work
Nina Berkhout, Digital Content Officer at the National Gallery of Canada wrote that “Clouds are the philosophers of the sky, representing the tenuous, ever changing nature of life. They embody the unknowable and the unattainable, carrying different meanings and emotions - from enchantment to turmoil - for each observer.”
Like in the classic Rorschach test, each viewer sees something different as they gaze at the sky, whether to read it like tea leaves or simply revel in the act of pareidolia.
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 30” x 36”
$1,500.00 CAD
This piece delightfully describes evenings of self-indulgence with your favourite chick flick, some wine, maybe some chocolate. Perhaps your thing is pizza, beer and an action flick. Regardless, you enjoy the brief yet blissful spiral into you time.
2020
Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 48”
SOLD
Imagine watching colours whorl and shift as you fly between clouds , memories flickering at the edge of your consciousness.
2021
Acrylic On Canvas, 30” x 40”
$1400 CAD
When first completed, I couldn’t decided on whether to title this piece Ice cream Sundae or Ice cream Sunday. This giant cone shaped cloud rising over the abstract mountain reminded me of childhood Sundays and looking forward to vanilla or lemon ice cream desserts.
2020/21
Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 60”
$2600 CAD
I painted this piece in the winter of 2021/22, when the west coast rainy season was at its darkest. I had been having a lot of dreams about being lost. In the dreams, every time I turned a corner, even ones that should have taken me back to where I was before, a whole new and unfamiliar vista would open up. Needless to say these images filled me with a quiet panic. Meditations and visualizations of a way through the chaos helped me get through this time. Through the chaos and the storms on either side, and the darkness and pitfalls of the path forward, the painting shows a bright and beautiful light at the end.
2020
Acrylic on 3 canvas panels, each 36” x 16”
$2100 CAD
“Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.” - Rabindranath Tagore
2020
Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 36”
SOLD
It is often argued that looking out windows is synonymous with unproductiveness. We live in a world where dreaming, enjoying the moment, staring at the clouds are devalued. Every moment must lead to some other goal. I would say that these let us create portals in our minds, and allow us to be most at home in our own skins. That, in itself, should be goal enough.
2020
Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 36”
SOLD
As part of the “Rorschach Clouds”, this painting perhaps embodies the spirit of the series title the most. While painting it I could not decide, day to day, whether this painting would be titled “Solitude” or “Loneliness”. Clouds embody different meanings and emotions depending on our own frame of reference and emotional landscape at the time. Sometimes, you have to make a conscious effort to choose positivity.
2020
Acrylic on Canvas, 48” x 48”
$2600.00 CAD
Named after the book of the same title by Ryan Holliday. Holliday quotes Marcus Aurelius - “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” The goal in this painting is the distant, almost obscure star, the stormy clouds begin to part as we journey through them to the other side.
2020
Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 36”
$1400.00 CAD
At this early stage of the Rorschach series I was still experimenting with colour. This was the only piece to emphasize cobalt blue which sometimes makes the viewers perspective shift between a wide open night sky and a cavernous, subterranean pool.
2021
Acrylic on Canvas, 24” x 24”
$850.00
Literally, this is the calm before the shit storm!
2021
Acrylic on Canvas
30” x 30”
Feel the heaviness of this large, sleepy cloud is it drifts over these playfully abstract waves which mask hidden depths. On it will wander, steadily towards an unknown goal on an unknowable shore.
Drawing from the Romanticist tradition, my work is meant to imply and convey the grandness of nature. Ethereal clouds are juxtaposed playfully against hints of Rorschach-like ink blooms and multi-hued waves that roll in from the far horizon. In this way the viewer is invited to get lost in the landscape, finding meaning in the clouds or losing themselves in the flow and texture of the painting.
2013 and 2020
Acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”
$825.00 CAD
This is one of two pieces begun years before it was completed. This was the true infancy of the Rorschach Clouds series. At the time my main focus was raising my young children, so the painting waited patiently for me to return to it once both concept and children matured and grew.
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 24”
$700
Before the darker clouds start to roll in and the wind just begins to pick up, the pressure creates a sense of unease. Is it something your subconscious is telling you, or is it just the weather?
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 24”
$1000 CAD
Feel the heaviness of this large, sleepy cloud is it drifts over these playfully abstract waves which mask hidden depths. On it will wander, steadily towards an unknown goal on an unknowable shore.
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”
$1200 CAD
No one believes clouds that hang threateningly on the horizon. Until they come up closer and stop dropping their payload of rain, they are just empty threats.
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”
$900 CAD
The clean wind pushes back the bank of threatening clouds, standing up to the bed weather and creating a haven for seafarers.
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 16” x 40”
$900
Wispy clouds and eye searingly bright light over the calm water, the start of a new day full of hope.
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”
$1250 CAD
SOLD
Little truths, sometimes you need help finding them in the sea of disinformation and lies.
2021
Acrylic on canvas, 30” x 48”
$2000 CAD
It’s a remote chance, but there is hope in it. Do you go for it even when the odds are against you?
2021
Acrylic on canvas
SOLD
2022
Acrylic on canvas, 30” x 60”
SOLD
It’s all about the light, bouncing off water, shining through waves, backlighting the clouds, revealing hidden treasure all around.
INTERESTED IN A COMMISSIONED PIECE?
If you like my work but cannot find the perfect combination of size, colour and subject matter for your space, the answer may be a commission. Starting with a consultation, I will work with you or your interior designer to create the perfect bespoke piece, created specifically for your walls and with your personality in mind.
Contact me for more information or to discuss your specific needs!
2020
Acrylic on three canvas panels, each 16” x 20”
Private commission
2021
Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 72”
Private commission