Corban Walker is an internationally renowned artist based in Ireland who creates installations, sculpture and drawings that focus on human-made systems and perceptions of scale.
Walker’s work is part of numerous public and private collections including the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. Walker represented Ireland at the 54th Venice International Art Biennale in 2011 and received the prestigious Pollock Krasner Award in 2015. He was also elected to Aosdána in 2011.
How my artistic journey began:
I grew up in a house surrounded by Irish and international contemporary art and artists. Both my parents were deeply involved in a very small but thriving culture of art in Ireland since before I was born.
Where the title for my current show came from:
A thought process in how to combine several bodies of work made over a period of 18 years, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, presented in a single space and curated from 129 centimetres in height.
Artists who have influenced me:
At a young age I was very interested in Land Art, minimalism and large-scale installation from all over the world. It was, and still is, very important for me to travel specifically to see artists’ work.
Nowadays, it is very rewarding to see something that challenges me beyond my expectations. When that happens, it doesn’t so much influence me, as enables me to re-evaluate my own process and sometimes that can direct the work to an extent.
My favourite piece of music when I need inspiration:
I don’t have an answer for that. I generally work in silence to fully concentrate. If I need to do something mundane, or repetitive over several hours, I play music from anywhere.
I have a collection of:
Empty Bustelo packets filled with plaster.
An artist whose work I would collect if I could:
Giacometti. And if I could, I would invest in a Richard Serra oil stick drawing.
A place that means a lot to me other than my studio:
Bothar Bui.
A place I’d like to visit:
Anywhere I haven’t been to yet: Scandinavia, Portugal, Croatia, Turkey, Palestine, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong. I could keep going.
In another life I would have been:
Possibly a historian. I’ve always been interested in finding out how we got to this place. I’m fascinated even by the events which have happened in the minute time I’ve spent on the planet.
The best/worst piece of advice I ever received:
Listen.
Walker’s solo exhibition Under Stand The Space just opened at the Solomon Gallery, Dublin and runs until October 21.
See: solomonfineart.ie
