Newcastle University

Occupying a place between document and fiction, Caroline Walker’s painting practice explores the relationship of women to domestic space, and reflects on a history of representing women in art. The locating of a specific house, most recently a contemporary ‘grand design’, is the starting point for creating a set in which fictitious scenarios can unfold. A combination of the existing contents of the house and additional props are used to subvert an idea of domestic order, while a lone female figure inhabits multiple characters, conveying an oddly charged atmosphere, hovering between the tedium of housework, the boredom of days spent home alone and something darker, more sexually charged.

Scottish artist Caroline Walker (b. 1982) studied at the Glasgow School of Art (2000-2004) and the Royal College of Art (2007-2009), and now lives and works in London. She has exhibited widely across the UK and abroad, including solo exhibitions at Marlborough Fine Art, London (2010), Ivan Gallery, Bucharest (2010) and Ana Cristea Gallery, New York (2011). Group exhibitions include John Moores Painting Prize (2006), Jerwood Contemporary Painters (2008), SV10 Studio Voltaire (2010), ‘Love is an Ocular Sickness’ at Intermedia, CCA, Glasgow (2010) and ‘Some Domestic Incidents’ at Prague Biennale 5 and MAC, Birmingham (2011). Awards include the 2009 Valerie Beston Young Artist Award, 2009 Neville Burston Award and Dewar Arts Award (2007). Her work is held in the Franks-Suss, Saatchi and Jimenez-Colon collections.

Image: 'Conservation', oil on canvas, 200 x 290cm, 2010