About Walter and

I have lived in and around Herefordshire, in the Welsh Marches of the United Kingdom – a place of history, myths and legends - for nearly thirty years although I am originally from Africa – an even more ancient land. In a rather African way, I am now becoming more of a nomad.

Art to me is as a horcrux is to Harry Potter – a piece of one’s soul. But whereas Voldemort does his best to hide his soul where it is impossible to find, the artist puts his on display for all the world to see – a very curious notion!

Sculptures

The core of my art is found material in the form of pieces of wood I stumble across in my travels – usually ancient and decayed but with a core of heart-wood of great beauty and, to me, vitality. My work is an attempt to give expression to this vitality, without attempting to impose a story of my own.  So each work seeks to draw energy from the contrast, on the one hand, of an ancient shard of wood that carries with it all the scars of its history with, on the other, a piece of stainless steel, usually highly polished, with all that symbolises. . Two elements as one. 

If the coming together and presentation of the whole moves you in any way, it will, to my mind, have been a success. Only in indifference lies failure.

I try and give each of my works a name simply because it seems to me that naming something is essential to giving it a separate identity. But the names I bestow are not meant to be other than suggestive, since I know that each piece speaks differently to each viewer in a way only they understand. And that is as it should be.

Owning works

I think it follows from what I have said that I am keen to share my work with people who find something sustaining and/or uplifting about it, but I am more than a little ambivalent about selling it. Not because I am trying to be precious about it but more because I am attempting to develop new ways to use it creatively and as soon as I sell a piece, future opportunities involving that piece are lost. Obviously I would like my work to be "out there" being enjoyed by as many people as possible and I am exploring other ways of achieving that (leasing it, for example).  But I would not want the work to be viewed as an actual or potential investment - it is meant to be art, not currency.