Walton Ford In Focus
Walton Ford Prints at Wingate Studio
Walton Ford is a fascinating American artist who has made a unique mark on contemporary art by creating large-scale watercolors that look like they could have come straight from a 19th-century natural history book – but with surprising and often darkly humorous twists.
Born in 1960 and raised in the suburbs of New York, Ford initially wanted to be a filmmaker but found his calling in visual art. He’s best known for his massive paintings of animals that, at first glance, might remind you of John James Audubon’s famous bird illustrations. However, Ford’s work is much more complex and layered with meaning.
What makes Ford’s art special is how he combines incredible technical skill with storytelling and symbolism. His paintings are huge – often measuring up to 8 feet tall – and feature meticulous detail that would make any traditional naturalist painter proud. But look closer, and you’ll find these aren’t just simple animal portraits. Each piece tells a story, often about human nature, colonialism, environmental destruction, or the complex relationship between humans and animals.
Ford’s process is incredibly thorough. He researches his subjects extensively, diving into historical accounts, myths, and scientific documents. He often includes handwritten notes and symbols in his paintings, just like you might find in old naturalist journals. But these notes often contain surprising information – sometimes funny, sometimes disturbing – that adds another layer of meaning to the work.
What’s particularly interesting about Ford’s style is how he manages to make his paintings look both historical and contemporary at the same time. He uses traditional materials like watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper, and his technique could easily belong in a 19th-century natural history museum. Yet his subject matter and the way he approaches it is thoroughly modern, often addressing current environmental concerns or political issues.
His animals often display very human-like emotions or are caught in situations that reflect human behaviour. Sometimes they’re shown in moments of violence or distress, other times in bizarre or humorous situations that make you stop and think about what the artist is trying to say.
Ford’s work has earned him significant recognition in the art world, with his pieces being displayed in major museums like the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art. What makes him particularly accessible as an artist is how he combines technical mastery with storytelling – you can appreciate his work simply for its visual beauty, or you can dig deeper into the complex meanings and historical references he weaves into each piece.
Despite his serious themes, there’s often a wit and playfulness to Ford’s work that makes it approachable. He’s like a natural history illustrator who’s decided to tell the stories that the traditional scientific books left out – the weird, wonderful, and sometimes uncomfortable truth about nature and humanity’s relationship with it.