Cornelia Parker (b. 1956, Cheshire) has been concerned with formalising forces beyond our control, containing the volatile and transforming them into something quiet and contemplative. Parker positions her subjects at the very moment of their transformation, suspended in time and completely still.
Cornelia Parker has been working on a project to send a meteorite back whence it came. Parker made a series of meteorite landings on London using a Gibeon Meteorite found in Namibia in 1836. The meteorite is heated and then placed on the various locations on an enlarged map of London, burning its way through the city’s famous and infamous sites, leaving only its imprint. “An alien object from space, the meteorite, embodies the fear of the unknown, fear of the future. In this sense this is an apocalyptic work for the end of the millennium".
Parker was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts, London and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. Parker later won the Artist of the Year Apollo Award in 2016, and most recently was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to the arts