I've always been interested in painting as an object rather than something viewed from a polite distance. I'm drawn to the support as much as the image itself: the sides of a painting, the depth of the stretcher, the weight of canvas and paint, the materials, the presence of the object, and the conversation it has with the architecture around it.
At 17 I travelled with a friend to Auckland to see a Picasso show, I loved his paintings but had never seen one in person. I recall my shock to see the grand gold gilded frames that surrounded most of the works. They had been cropped out of view in the books I'd previously viewed them in, and I wondered what the fuck they were doing there. I have since fallen in love with those frames but still feel like they are from a different time and world to Picasso's work. The experience got me thinking about frames, deeply.
My ceramic frames function as organic architectural forms, drawing from the architecture of my childhood - particularly structures built by my father and the late Ian Athfield. Their irregular forms stretch and distort the imagery within, creating a dialogue between painting, surface and form. These works refuse to remain politely on the wall. They push into gallery space, demanding physical engagement. The frames ask viewers to move, find shifting perspectives, and participate in the work's spatial ambitions.
- Jake Walker, 2026
Since 2009, Jake Walker has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and New Zealand. He received a High Commendation in the RBS Emerging Artist Award in 2010 and was the inaugural recipient of the Arkley Award at NOTFAIR, Melbourne. In 2012, he undertook a studio residency at Gertrude Contemporary. His work is represented in major public and private collections, including Artbank, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the Chartwell Collection (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki), the Wallace Arts Trust, the Bowman Collection, and the Joyce Nissan Collection, as well as in numerous private collections across Australasia and internationally.