13 – 29 October 2022
about the exhibition
This exhibition by Thornton Walker brings together recent oil paintings, still life watercolours and collages. The ongoing pandemic and increasing global warming has led to a feeling of vulnerability for Thornton and has resulted in a new body of work, less concerned with making a grand statement, but drawn to personal, more intimate subjects from his immediate surroundings. The oil paintings are scaled down in size and include personal moments of his everyday, like “Hiccup, my cat, drinking from the bath spout, my partner in front of the mirror, the heron below my deck, the cove and headland I visit on my morning walks.“ Through his still life watercolours and drawings he explores arrangements of quiet objects of ascetic, meditative character. The Covid diary collages made using Japanese calligraphic sheets and cut out still life objects mounted on watercolour paper were crafted on his kitchen table during the extensive covid lockdown in Melbourne. They became the anchor for his inner self during this period. This exhibition again shows the diversity of Thornton’s subject matter and masterful technique. His work continues to demonstrate a sensitive handling of surfaces whilst exuding an ethereal and meditative quality.
Thornton Walker studied printmaking at the Prahran College of Advanced Education and Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. After graduating in 1977, he travelled for eight years throughout Europe and the United States and later undertook studio residencies in Spain and Malaysia. With almost fifty solo exhibitions to his name, he is now recognised as one of Australia’s leading figurative tonal painters. His work is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, QUT Art Museum, Parliament House, British Museum and the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (Japan).
