Deborah Walker's practice is characterised by the seemingly straightforward representation of figures and their settings. Yet her works challenge the idea of immediate access and evoke a lingering metaphysical undercurrent. For over two decades she has made work of consistent focus, ones that are characterised by their enigmatic presence.
The artist has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally with works that have consistently focused on the inner life of the figures portrayed. While her work has been shown in many national portrait awards, these portraits operate as internalised reflections, as much as faithful facsimiles. It is imagery centred on poetic and philosophical concerns, particularly those of the metaphysical. Her connection to the poetic is evident in the following essay by Australian poet Kevin Hart :
(Her) images come to us from very far away. It is as though they took an infinite time to reach us. What we see is at once clear and utterly mysterious. Here, clarity is the mode in which enigma or a mystery comes into view. We see things, to be sure. We see them as though for the first time because none of them has been stripped of (their) unique strangeness. . . There is a sense in Deborah Walker's images that things abide in a space of their own. Prof. K. Hart, University of Virginia, U.S.A.
She has completed both undergraduate and postgraduate studies in visual arts and a number of her visual projects have been supported by research grants from the Australia Council and Australian universities where she has lectured widely.
Walker has completed various commissions, received prizes and award and been short-listed and acquired in national prizes, (Moran, Portia Geach, Geelong Prize) and is represented in major collections, (NGA, NGV,) both in Australia, Europe and USA. Walker has received numerous awards, grants and residences in visual arts, (Bundanon (Arthur Boyd Trust); Queensland College of Art, Griffith University; Trades Hall Studio; Project Grant, Visual Arts Board and Travel Grant, Australia Council, New York.)
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018
2015
2014
2013
2012
2010
2009
2008
2004
2003
2001
2000
1997
1994
1991
1990
1987
Solo Exhibition, Carlisle Street Arts Space, St.Kilda
Spectres - Paintings, Norwegian Church Gallery, Cardiff, U.K.
Library: Recent Paintings, St. Kilda Town Hall Gallery
Demons & Deities: Recent Paintings, Andrew Baker Gallery, Brisbane
Recent Diptychs, 69 Smith Street Gallery, Melbourne
Home Sweet Home, Paintings
Clouds & Shadows, Paintings, Andrew Baker Gallery, Brisbane
Paintings, Victoria College, University of Toronto, Canada
Spectral Bequest, Andrew Baker Art Dealer
Recent Paintings, Gallery 101, Melbourne
Homage to the Infinite, Survey Exhibition, Stonnington Stables Museum of Art
Kansas State University Gallery, Kansas, USA
Paintings, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
Paintings, Andrew Baker Gallery, Brisbane
Paintings, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
Paintings, Hill-Smith Fine Art Gallery, Adelaide
Recent Paintings, Niagara Gallery, Paintings, Melbourne
Recent Paintings, Niagara Gallery, Melbourne
New York Drawings, 200 Gertrude Street Gallery, Melbourne
Gerstman Abdullah Fine Arts International, Germany
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
Borrowed Scenery, Campbell Town Art Gallery
St. Kevin’s Invitation Art Prize, Finalist
Portia Geach Art Prize, Finalist
Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Finalist
Portia Geach Art Prize, Finalist,
Doug Moran Prize, Semi-finalist
Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Finalist
Finalist, Bayside Art Prize
Finalist, Portia Geach Art Prize
Finalist, Gallipoli Art Prize
Semi-finalist, Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Sydney
Portia Geach Prize, Finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery Sydney
Finalist, Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, Melbourne
Finalist, Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, Melbourne
Finalist, Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Sydney
Portia Geach Portrait Prize, Finalist, S. H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Deakin University Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University Art Gallery
Finalist, Portia Geach Portrait Prize, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Finalist, Geelong Art Prize, Geelong Art Gallery
Finalist & Acquired, Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast Art Gallery
Portia Geach Portrait Prize, Finalist, S. H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Climate Change, Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne
Paul Guest Invitation Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery
Recent Works, Deakin University Art Gallery
Recent Drawings, City Gallery, Flinders Lane
Paul Guest Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery
R & M McGivern Invitation Prize, Maroondah Art Gallery
Drought, Melbourne Writer’s Festival, in collaboration with poet Kevin Brophy Warrnambool Art Gallery, 25 year Collection Exhibition
R & M McGivern Art Prize, Invitation Prize, Maroondah Art Gallery
Girls, Girls, Girls, Images of Femininity from the Banyule Art Collection Swan Hill Drawing Prize, Swan Hill Regional Gallery
Fantastic and Visionary Art, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
Collections
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Queensland Art Gallery
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Print Council of Australia
Ian Potter Foundation
Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery
State Library of Queensland
Freemantle Arts Centre
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
Bendigo Art Gallery
Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Warrnambool Art Gallery
Campbelltown City Art Gallery
Freemantle Arts Centre
Geelong Art Gallery
Gladstone Art Gallery
Australian Catholic University
Deakin University Museum of Art
La Trobe University
Koman Art Gallery
Selected Bibliography
Heathcote, Christopher
Australian Painting 1788 – 2000, by Bernard Smith, chapters by Terry Smith & Christopher Heathcote, Oxford University Press, 2001