Caroline Walker’s paintings reveal the diverse social, cultural and economic experiences of women living in contemporary society.
Drawing on her own photographic source material, Walker provides a unique window into the everyday lives of women. Blurring the boundary between objectivity and lived experience, the artist highlights often overlooked jobs performed by women and the psychologically charged spaces they inhabit.
Walker explains: “The subject of my paintings in its broadest sense is women’s experience, whether that is the imagined interior life of a glimpsed shop worker, a closely observed portrayal of my mother working in the family home, or women I’ve had the privilege of spending time with, in their place of work. From the anonymous to the highly personal, what links all these subjects is an investigation of an experience which is specifically female.”
Previously encompassing locations such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs and the UK, Walker’s scenes hint at the complexity of her subjects’ lives whilst completely avoiding narrative resolution. Often exploring the notion of ‘women’s work’, the artist captures specific spaces such as pharmacies, tailors, beauty salons, laboratories, bathhouses and modernist apartments.
Her work can be found in numerous international collections including Aïshti Foundation, Beirut; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Arts Council Collection, UK; De Ying Foundation, South Korea; HE Art Museum, Foshan; HepworthWakefield, UK; Hunterian, Glasgow; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker; Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Yale University, New Haven.
[excerpted from Stephen Friedman Gallery website: www.stephenfriedman.com]
