Caroline Walker

Caroline Walker’s paintings reveal the diverse social, cultural and economic experiences of women living in contemporary society.

Caroline Walker was born in 1982 in Dunfermline, Scotland, where she now lives and works.

Drawing on her own photographic source material, Walker provides a unique window into the everyday lives of women. Blurring the boundary between objectivity and lived experience, the artist highlights often overlooked jobs performed by women and the psychologically charged spaces they inhabit.

Walker explains: “The subject of my paintings in its broadest sense is women’s experience, whether that is the imagined interior life of a glimpsed shop worker, a closely observed portrayal of my mother working in the family home, or women I’ve had the privilege of spending time with, in their place of work. From the anonymous to the highly personal, what links all these subjects is an investigation of an experience which is specifically female.”

Previously encompassing locations such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs and the UK, Walker’s scenes hint at the complexity of her subjects’ lives whilst completely avoiding narrative resolution. Often exploring the notion of ‘women’s work’, the artist captures specific spaces such as pharmacies, tailors, beauty salons, laboratories, bathhouses and modernist apartments.

The artist’s major solo exhibition ‘Mothering’ will open at Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England in May 2025. Past notable solo and two-person institutional exhibitions include those at Nottingham Castle, England (2022); Fitzrovia Chapel, London, England (2022); University College London Hospital Arts, Street Gallery, London, England (2022); K11, Shanghai, China (2022); KM21, The Hague, The Netherlands (2021); Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham, England (2021); Art Exchange, University of Essex, Colchester, England (2018); Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, England (2018) and Pitzhanger Manor Gallery, London, England (2013). 

Walker featured in the Hayward Gallery UK touring exhibition ‘British Art Show 9’ (2021). Other notable group shows include those at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, England (2024); Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England (2024); British Museum, London, England (2024); Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, England (2023); Pond Society, Shanghai, China (2023); Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England (2023); Foundling Museum, London, England (2023); Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, England (2022); Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2022); National Museum Wales, Cardiff, Wales (2021); Southbank Centre, London, England (2020); Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, England (2015) and Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland (2012).

Walker obtained an MA in painting from Royal College of Art, London in 2009 and a BA (Hons) from Glasgow School of Art in 2004. Walker is also represented by GRIMM, Amsterdam / New York / London and Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh.

Her work can be found in numerous international collections including Aïshti Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Arts Council Collection, UK; De Ying Foundation, South Korea; Government Art Collection, UK; Harris Museum, Preston, UK; HE Art Museum, Foshan, China; HepworthWakefield, UK; Hunterian, Glasgow, UK; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida, USA; Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker, Norway; Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands; Longlati Foundation, Shanghai, China; Pond Society, Shanghai, China; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, The Netherlands; National Galleries of Scotland, UK; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, USA; National Museum Wales, UK; Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China and Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.