Art exhibit showcases illness and environmental issues
The Schuylkill River in Philadelphia shown through a photo of artist Andrew Walker’s skin cancer
Artist Andrew Walker uses photoshop to combine photos of rivers and his personal skin cancer to help show his theme of illness within the environment and in the human body.
Waynesburg University will display a Guest Art Exhibition later this month in its Benedum Fine Arts Gallery. Andrew Walker, an artist of both traditional and contemporary styles.
Walker, 54, of Philadelphia, seeks to address issues of illness in addition to the recovery and transformation of humans and the environment with his artwork.
The theme of this exhibit is rivers, specifically the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
“I have a lot of health problems, like skin cancer, and I photograph my skin cancer layered in with the photographs of the river,” Walker said. “This helps show the point that rivers are beautiful but they have a lot of problems with pollution and being damaged.”
His style has both traditional and contemporary aspects. Walker attaches digital images of wounds and organs to wood and metal sculptures, and also creates large-scale prints and installations. In addition, Walker’s art utilizes photography, painting and computer manipulation.
Using a wide variety of mediums including landscape painting, illustrations and sculptures, Walker creates awareness of urban blight and environmental damage, but also provides insight into the potential for relief from these struggles.
“I have been using Photoshop for the photos of the river,” Walker said. “I pull several views together and work in layers of photographs to create some of my pieces.”
His artwork is intended to find beauty in what is traditionally considered ugly and illustrate how art and science can improve lives. By including altered images of his own skin cancer and layering digital images together, Walker works to document the beauty and sickness of people and their environment.
“I hope people get two things from the exhibit. One, I hope they get a wonder of the beauty of nature and what our rivers can do for us,” Walker said. “But also that they get an emotion that some things aren’t right and how to take care of things in the future and make people aware.”
The exhibit by the Department of Fine Arts will be held Sept. 14 through Oct. 9. The opening reception for the exhibit featuring artist Walker’s work, will be Sept. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m.