CAROLINE WALKER

(B. 1982)

Cats
2005

Footnotes

Provenance
The ScotlandArt.com Gallery, Glasgow
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2006



Caroline Walker's paintings of interiors and women in everyday domestic scenes draw upon the timeless tradition of portraying women at work, a subject matter which has been explored in masterpieces such as The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, The Cradle by Berthe Morisot and Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet. The intricate compositions and layers of symbolism found in Walker's paintings are a testament to the depth and sophistication with which the artist approaches the genre. The present works strike a delicate balance between complex portraiture and narrative form, as the cinematic and often suspenseful unfurling of the tableaux lend a gravitas and realism to the paintings. Her scenographic compositions that highlight the subjecthood of women's work and the unobserved moments of privation distinguishes Caroline Walker as one of the foremost Contemporary painters on the market today.

Much of Walker's oeuvre reflects an interest in the themes of the private versus public, indoor versus outdoor, often portraying women alone and isolated within the confines of a private space. The architecture, furnishings and decorative objects found in her works not only add narrative context but also serve to visually delineate the space. The converging of the planes of perspective along with the high contrast in light and dark borrows from the techniques of masterpieces from the Western canon, such as The Night Watch by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt van Rijn and Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. This variety in tints, tones and shades create a filmic atmosphere and renders the scene with a subdued sense of drama and layered meanings.

In Cats, the spectator becomes a voyeur, glimpsing the interior, quiet spaces of the female sitter who avoids our gaze. The ordinary bedroom scene contemporises the popular nineteenth and early twentieth century European painting subject matter of the boudoir. Semi-dressed and with her back to the viewer, a young woman brushes her hair whilst the soft light filters in from the window. The domestic ephemera under Walker's brush become symbolic mementos of the subject and offer a juxtaposition of multiple narratives alongside the constrictive nature underlying domesticity. As the sitter's facial expressions are concealed, the loose stockings on the bed, the uplifting springtime outfit and the careful curation of the subject's environment are the only signifiers of the subject's feelings and psychological mood.

In A Taste of the Orient, there is a similar dichotomy between the objectification of the subject versus the anthropomorphising of the objects. The title of the painting references both the interior design of the room and Orientalist art from the nineteenth century. The subject, seemingly unaware of the audience and dimly lit, sits in stillness. The amalgamation of the large Chinese ceramic vase, Persian carpet, damask wallpaper, large stone fireplace and a pin-up image of a lady in a qipao or cheongsam dress suggests the worldliness and materialistic comfort of the room's inhabitant. However, the high level of detail accorded to the objects and the small size of the sitter suggest unrealized aspirations, and remarks on and criticises the often decorative and objectifying nature of portraits of women.

Walker's works deal with the blurred boundaries between the public and the private and the often invisible nature of domestic life. Her highly technical approach to painting which includes cutaway views of the interiors and the expert handling of subtle changes in light, opacity, and textures, imparts a participatory feeling to the audience. Caroline Walker has had solo exhibitions at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge; the Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham and KM21, The Hague. Her works are in several international collections, including the KM21 Kunstmuseum, The Hague, The UK Government Art Collection, National Museum Wales, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.