Margaret Walker

In 2003 Margaret Walker became a member of the KCAT Studio. Since then she has shown in numerous international exhibitions and extensively in Ireland. 

In an experimental and searching practice, Margaret works across several processes, including painting, sculpture, fabric and stitching work. A central pillar of Margaret’s practice has been to focus on and document the town of Callan and its surrounds. Many of her works focus on the architecture of Callan as well as the intersection of nature and the built environment. By producing work that records the place and history of Callan, and changes that have occurred there, Margaret’s work often illuminates a decline of certain aspects of rural Ireland. However, ultimately, her work is a tribute to Callan and Kilkenny and is infused with positivity and possibility. As she says, “there is still a vibrancy there. My paintings are a celebration of the town.” 

Margaret’s work also presents a record of her own own life experiences. For example, the work Ice at Newtown (2011), with it’s crisp white marks, foggy smudges, and hint of pink, depicts frozen foliage and water that was observed when visiting Newtown in Kilkenny. A similar sensitivity of is evident across a range of works, including the painting Three is a Crowd (2011), which captures the intense physical contact of a hen and cockerel as they cover an egg that sits underneath them out of site of the viewer.