Grounded - Michelle Walker

I GREW UP AND STILL LIVE IN THE WYNYARD AREA. I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY THIS COUNTRY AND HAVE THOUGHT DEEPLY ABOUT THE PLACE WE CHOOSE TO LIVE OUR LIFE IN. I AM A PRACTICING ARTIST AND SECONDARY ART TEACHER: A MOTHER, A WIFE, AND A PART OF THE LOCAL ARTS COMMUNITY. IN MY PRACTICE I AM INSPIRED TO EXPLORE MANY MEDIUMS, TO CONSTANTLY LEARN, AND PLAY WITH PROCESSES. RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO NATURAL MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTS: EXTRACTING THE BEAUTY FROM THE COUNTRY AND REPRESENTING IT THROUGH ART: TO CAPTURE MOMENTS OF THE LAND AROUND US. I CREATE A PERSONAL HISTORY AND CONNECT WITH A LAND THAT HAS HAD ITS LONG HISTORY ERASED BY MAN WITHOUT A STUTTER. I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS IDEA FOR A FEW YEARS: THROUGH EXPERIMENTATION, OF EXTRACTING AND FORGING COLOURS, PLAYING WITH BINDERS AND PRACTICING APPLICATION, THESE WORKS WERE FORMED. NATURE: ITS HUGENESS AND IN THE MICRO: IN THE BRIGHT AND IN THE DULL: IN THE TEXTURES AND THE SMOOTH: IN THE WEATHER AND THE WARMTH OF THE SUN: THE CLEANNESS OF THE WATER AND WITH THE AIR THAT ROLLS FROM THE SEA: THE TOXINS IN ITS PLANTS AND ANIMALS: NONE OF THIS CAN BE CAPTURED AND CELEBRATED IN ANY ART WORK. INSTEAD, WE CAN REPRESENT ONLY A TINY BIT OF OUR KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING, AND GLORIFY THESE MOMENTS IN THE ALTERS OF OUR PERSONAL SPACES