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Alumni Spotlight: Walker Antonio '19 Building Art Career with Woodberry Roots
Walker Antonio recalls his senior year at Woodberry as a real launching point with art.
“I was going through a tough time, and art became a way to get into another world.”
Walker remembers the mentorship of then department chair Kelly Lonergan, which was also delivered while blasting Jimmy Hendrix and Talking Heads.
“We’d put our heads down and go to work in the studio, not as a coping mechanism, but as a practice I really enjoyed. Those early paintings are still reflected in my work today.”
Other influences include studying Norse Mythology with Mr. John Amos, English Department Chair, which provided Walker an outlet to sketch.
“Lots of creative thinking were part of class, which definitely spurred along my creativity in the studio,” recalls Walker, followed by a quip about “still being scared of Mr. Hale,” another esteemed member of the English faculty, as he thought about other influential teachers at Woodberry.
Now in his senior year at Wofford College, Walker says his work continues to evolve.
‘I’m still trying to find my voice in art but have been motivated by an interest in the mental health of the young men in my generation and the anxiety that comes with the age of social media,” he said.
Finding inspiration in outsider art and art brut, Walker seeks to “express states of mind and emotional responses through the distortion and caricature of the human figure. I use extensive patterning to create an ambiguous sense of space and explore compositions that push the boundaries between figuration and abstraction.”
Walker was selected as a grant recipient to exhibit his work at Wofford as a senior capstone experience this winter. He is in the final stages of curating pieces for this collection. As for the future, Walker is considering an MFA degree and looking at both programs and locations that will feed his modern, contemporary approach and work.
“I was in Asheville recently and feel this location could support my set-up for an MFA.”
Walker will be an alumni-in-residence this month, connecting with students in classes around his gallery debut on October 21 & 22 at Possum’s Store Art & Artisan Gallery (located in Criglersville, Virginia, thirty minutes from Woodberry). The exhibit runs October 21 to November 27. The pieces chosen for this show will encompass a motif of 'masks,' referring to the different sides of the self that we present in different social situations.
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
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