Jo Walter

I am an artist living and working in Bristol. My current work is focussed on memories from my childhood and from the more recent past. I use painting and drawing to explore this theme. My large drawing Room of our Childhood was made with contributions from my siblings who all added their own memories to mine.

This piece has inspired many conversations with people about their own childhood rooms. The significant objects can return you to an intense experience of the past. Drawing and painting from observation are a valuable tool for my practice and I use them as a spring board for images that link to my memories.

There’s a strong connection to home and all that means to me and my family and then a branching out to the outside and the landscape.

I use landscape as a place where my memories can roam around and I’m particularly interested in ponds and lakes and flood water as these connect with my childhood. It’s also a way of
understanding how time works and how our memories are in this other world, just below the surface – always with us and constantly changing and shifting.