Artist
Christopher Walker was born in Montreal, Quebec. As a child, his
oil paintings depicting Quebec rural landscape gave birth to his
love and dedication towards art and the environment. His formal
artistic education was at the Ontario College of Art from 1983
to 1987 where he began experimenting in different media and compositional
development. Having a long list of scientific interests, Walker
developed the ability to blend his artistic distinction with his
respect for scientific accuracy. He has worked as an art director
of illustrated science books and has illustrated four to his credit.
Walker has also been commissioned by museums and was art director
for the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary in Victoria,
B.C. His departure from expository illustration gave Walker boundless
freedom to face new challenges in his work. His unique themes
and powerful compositions developed into a higher standard of
research. Walker's paintings can only be conceived from the actual
experience of the subject. [no-sidebar]
On
August 22, 1994, the C.C.G.S. Louis S. St. Laurent and the U.S.C.G.S.
Polar Sea icebreakers entered history as the first North American
surface vessels to reach the North Pole. Walker is now in the Canadian
Archives as ship's artist. His work depicting this expedition has
been featured on the A&E Network and his originals have travelled
across Canada. The work has been seen at The Art Gallery of Greater
Victoria, B.C., The Vancouver Maritime Museum, B.C., The Canadian
Museum of Nature, Ottawa, The Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History,
Halifax, and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, N.T.,
and the Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg.
Walker's
influences range from Vermeer Van Delft, J.A.D. Ingres, Casper David
Friedrich to Alex Colville, Andrew Wyeth, Robert Bateman and George
Mcclean. A traditional approach along with a distinctive, contemporary
style stemming from his unique yet poetic observations of the human
condition and the environment make Walker's art a unique and progressive
format of realism. His paintings can be found in international,
private and corporate collections including England, Germany, New
Zealand, Japan, Norway and the United States. He has also been commissioned
by the National Science Foundation, Department of Fisheries and
Oceans and Environment Canada. Walker continues his conceptual development
at his studio on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
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