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| Green Fish |
Before we dive deep into the waters. I want you to click the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD7wrw03gzk, grab some headphones - adjust to the appropriate volume, and breathe deeply and steadily through your nose and then out of your mouth.
Did you do the above? If so, great! If not, great!
Do you long for crisp cool air in your lungs? The cold stream at your ankles? Wet fingertips from the bushes? If so, put down all electronics and take yourself wherever that is as soon as you can. You may thank me later! And you will feel rejuvenated. Nature is within us. Previous visiting artist at Illinois State University, Jason Walker sure enjoys what purity nature has to offer for humanity.
Jason Walker born in 1973 grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. Pursuing a college career in the arts, Walker graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelors in Fine Arts the year of 1996, followed by receiving his Masters in Fine Arts from Pennsylvania University in 1999. Walker spent two years as an Artist in Residence at The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, where he was honored with the Taunt Fellowship award. He was also awarded an NCECA International Residency Fellowship for a residency in Vallauris, France.
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| Wildflowers 1, 2, and 3 |
Since then, Walker's work is included in major collections and has shown, lectured, and taught internationally through the years. Walker is currently a studio artist in Bellingham, Washington and Kona, Hawaii. Who focuses on studio ceramics. Walker's ceramic art explores the complex and complicated relationship between the American culture, landscape of technology, and the perception of nature.
While attending the workshop Walker held in an Illinois State University ceramic class, I was very much interested in seeing how he executes his master. For I have seen his work on a social media platform called Instagram. The detail within his painted ceramics expresses a bold narrative through imagery. Along with seemingly rejecting a touch on the production. The talk consisted of him explaining the importance of brushes. The delicate touch it leaves behind on such work - lucid, declared, and dynamic. He explains that there is not permanence within his exploration of his marks within his work. He may evolve at any time.
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| Image 1. We Burn Things, Thats What We Do Image 2. Jackrabbit Image 3. Desert Frog |
The way he talks about his art even sounds something of a chattering brook. Gentle, fluid, and cultured. It brings me back to change. That we are evolving through imagery, words, and space. The exploration of shaping technology and nature together seemingly contradict one another. However, the representation Walker considers is within us and we may not escape even if we wanted.
"Perhaps through examination we may once again reinstate our own naturalness and, one day, find balance between the planet and ourselves. Ultimately, in doing so we may come to a better realization of what it means to be human." - Jason Walker
Artist Website:
By Erika Barber
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