John Walker by Catherine Lampert
John Walker's prolific painting career spans over sixty years. His practice is inspired by a range of visual references, notably the work of Goya, Matisse, the abstract expressionists, and the art of Oceania, as well as by shapes and pattern motifs evoking history, time, and place; however, his work cannot readily be defined as abstract or figurative, and his guiding thought is to have a conversation with the art of the past that embraces feeling and touch. As Walker puts it, the artist should listen to the sound of the brush. His desire to "own" a subject is present in his engagement with the bay at Seal Point, Maine, where he has lived for many years: "It’s about capturing something no one else has seen.
