Meg Walters

Meg Walters originally hails from the subtropical island of Bermuda. From this small island, she eventually migrated to the world’s biggest island: Australia. In between these two periods of her life, Walters pursued a degree with the Chelsea College of Arts in London, before eventually completing her Bachelor of Art and Design (specialising in Natural History Illustration) at Newcastle University. Walters most recently completed her studies at the Byron School of Art, while producing and exhibiting work as well.

Walters takes a dreamy approach to both life and her artwork. Her gravitation towards the tranquillity and languid pace of island life is imbued in her work, which is spiritual and dreamlike. A sense of nostalgia and yearning for the past can be felt in many pieces, offering the viewer a moment of escape too.

At the same time, Walters incorporates some of the more challenging elements of nature in her work too. Her most recent pieces convey a sense of urgency, drawing from her experience in the Australian bush. As she hiked across Tasmania’s southwest, Walters was struck by the inescapable nature of the elements, including wind, hail, sleet, blizzard, rain and even scorching sun.

The vivacity of the great outdoors stuck with Walters, filling her with awe when it came to the original custodians’ coexistence with such unforgiving conditions. The harsh landscape also took her to new places in her mind and spirit, both exposed and isolated at once.

This spiritual, natural experience is not new to Walters. Some of her earliest memories revolve around art and nature and finding ways to unite the two. Walters is fascinated with the attachment we have to static places, and how laden with emotion locations can be. Through her work, she attempts to abandon prohibitive social conditioning, and return to the places that are cathartic and inspiring to her.

Her paintings depict this fascination and respect, with landscapes bleeding into one another, waterways and skies intermingling. Water is a central theme in her paintings, perhaps not surprising for someone who has lived on islands her whole life. Walters opts for free-flowing lines, soft edges, and quiet colours.