Profile

Audrey Walker makes wall hung embroidered textiles. They are figurative and they often suggest momentary encounters and secret smiles. Techniques are deliberately simple and direct. Modulations of colour and tone are achieved by building up layers of stitches, by hand and machine, over a variety of fabrics.

Audrey Walker was born in West Cumberland in 1928. She trained as a painter at Edinburgh College of Art (1944-48) and the Slade School of Fine Art (1948-51). Ten years after leaving the Slade she was drawn to the potential of working with fabrics and threads. She responded to their physical qualities but, most importantly, she dicovered the rich and diverse history of textiles which are stitched by hand and machine with simple, direct , non-decorative marks. To begin, a variety of fabrics are assembled together to act as a support for the stitching and to establish broad areas of colour and tone. Layers of fine stitches are then built up to modulate the whole surface and to allow the gradual emergence of the image.

The imagery is figurative and derives from observations, memories, poetry and myths. It sometimes references the work of such artists as Piero della Francesca, Rembrandt, Titian and Greek sculptures. A few simple objects can prompt a “still life” which is concerned with the qualities of quietness and light. Explorations of colour and light are essential ingredients in all the work.