The Carousel / Recurring Reality (A)

Sentiment pays no dividend.
“Horses know this more than most:
The greatest curse of any animal is to be worth money to men.”
Shaun Tan, Tales from the Inner City

This quote from acclaimed Australian writer/illustrator Shaun Tan was the catalyst for my new body of works, Duality. Having had horses be a part of my life from a young age and witnessing the often complicated, delicately nuanced and interconnected relationship humans and horses have, this story had a profound effect on me.

The human / horse relationship began over 50,000BCE when horses were hunted for consumption. At approximately 4000BCE horses were domesticated and since then they have been utilised in every facet of our civilisation from religion, agriculture, warfare, transport and communications to sport, leisure, status and money. The transfer of human language, culture and technology increased with this new mobility of man, yet I question if humans acknowledge this non-human animal who has offered so much? Once the human need for horses is no longer required they are often cast aside, forgotten in paddocks, sent to abattoirs or set ‘free’ into the wilderness to be vilified for ruining the environment.

Coinciding with their utilitarian uses, the horse is a universal symbol for freedom without restraint. I found this notion to be paradoxical as the human / horse relationship is built on harnessing their power often through restraint. Horses are seen as pillars of strength and power yet their bodies and minds are fragile and anxious. It was here that I realised I was not only describing the human / horse relationship but the relationship with my own reality. My desire to step out of the shadows, speak my truths and question the status quo with quiet conviction came with restrains of uncertainty and self doubt. Like the horse, I am a product of my environment and those who have been connected to me, positively or negatively.

The creation of each painting takes many weeks, days and hours and during that time these innermost thoughts and feelings are embedded into each stroke. Through this delicate approach the power of the image emerges. Akin the relationship between humans and non-human animals the smallest change in tone and temperature can make the largest overall impact.

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Brooke Walker’s artworks give a voice to the voiceless. Her passion for wildlife conservation and desire to understand the intricate nuances of the human/non-human animal relationship inspires her arts practice. This love of wildlife was created and nurtured during childhood surrounded by animals on a hobby farm in McLaren Vale, South Australia.

In 2009, Walker graduated from UniSA with a Bachelor in Visual Communication (Illustration Specialisation) and has since continued her artistic studies and skill development through workshops held by Robin Eley of the Art Academy South Australia. In addition, she has sought painting technique mentorships by American painters David Kassan and Shana Levenson. In 2019 she spent 2 months as an assistant for acclaimed artist Robin Eley in his Los Angeles West Hollywood studio.

Walker hosted ‘PERICLITATUS’, her first solo exhibition of charcoal drawings in 2015. This exhibition showcased the worlds most endangered species through beautifully rendered portraits. Since then her technique has shifted towards oil painting, while still utilising the same attention to detail, giving her works a hyperrealistic quality. She has recently completed works in oils and charcoal for her solo exhibition ‘DUALITY’ that opened at the Fleurieu Arthouse on the 31st of August 2019.

In 2017 Walker was awarded the ‘Hidden World’ Category prize at the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year Awards in London with her work ‘Okapia Johnstoni’. Since then she has also won the ‘Hanger’s Prize’ with ‘Great Barrier Reef 1’ in the 2017 Solar Art Prize, the overall winner for the ‘2018 RSASA Characters of the Fleurieu’ art prize with her artwork ‘Soul’ and the ‘People’s Responsibility’ category prize with the work ‘Life or Death’ in the 2018 Solar Art Prize. She was a finalist in the Lethbridge 10000 during 2018 and 2019 and the Alice Springs Art Prize in 2018. In 2020 Walker was a finalist in the Bluethumb Art Prize and the prestigious International Art Renewal Centre Contemporary Realism Prize which had over 5,000 entries.

Not content with being a traditional wildlife artist, Walkers’ new works blur the lines between the real and surreal. She takes inspiration from historical research and symbolism, current environmental issues such as climate change and urban sprawl and her interest in animal social sciences. Her artworks are intertwined with deep empathy and an emotion that is hard to conceive in the written word. Above all, it is her goal to create beautiful, thought provoking imagery to encourage empathy and discussion in order to entice change in the human attitudes towards non-human animals.

In January 2020 Walker was mentored by acclaimed Melbourne street artist Rone after being awarded grant funding through the Guildhouse Catapult program. Brooke has a vision to place often overlooked non-human animals back into the cities through engaging street art, encouraging the viewer to notice and interact with them day to day. Street art has historically been a tool for change, a place to advocate and express personal, social and political opinions.

As part of her ongoing practice Brooke Walker regularly donates directly to reputable wildlife conservation charities. She has also donated works to raise funds for the Explorers Against Extinction Foundation in London and the Australian Rhino Project in conjunction with Zoos SA.