VISUAL is pleased to present The Town I Loved So Well, an exhibition of painting and sculpture by Margaret Walker.

Walker has long maintained her artistic practice in Callan, Co. Kilkenny. In these paintings, Walker records buildings and locations of personal and public significance in the town of Callan and her homeplace of neighbouring Coolagh.

The works include depictions of Walker’s old family home, various churches, and public and agricultural buildings. This selection of works have been chosen to show the co-existence of private and public life, and the relation of these places to ritual, tradition and civic and religious practices, concerns that are present in all the exhibitions in this season at VISUAL. These works act as both a record of Walker’s life, her memories, and associations with the built environment she knows so well, and as a record of the changes witnessed in the town and surrounding environs.

Also included in the exhibition is a sculpture by Walker, Words of Wisdom from My Rag Tree (2018). This work combines a found object of the tree with embroidered sayings and phrases on textiles, influenced by Irish folklore and spiritual traditions.

Artist Biography

Margaret Walker joined the KCAT Studio in Callan, Co. Kilkenny in 2003. She likes to experiment with mixed media and techniques and enjoys working in paint. Margaret’s work has always been influenced by Irish folklore and rural life and the rural landscape. The most recent work uses traditional fabric skills and is inspired by rag trees and old Irish sayings. Margaret has travelled extensively, including Sweden, America and Germany, and uses this experience in developing ideas for her work.