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03/10/2018 - 31/10/2018

I have been making work as an artist over a long period of time and have employed various materials and techniques: site and context specific installation; audio and video works; works based on archival research; and works on paper. A recurring concern characterise the works: they are often times-based, either time-limited and/or engaging with some aspect of time as a subject. Most of the work, to a greater or lesser degree, has dealt with the materiality/immateriality binary.

Much of my earlier work (1980s) drew on history, myth and material culture and cultural practices with particular reference to Ireland. A series of works in the 1990s were on the theme of ‘the art of war’. Subsequently I have produced works dealing with aspects of individual and collective memory. In turn this led to an exploration of material evidence of the past(s) through both the collection of data, from which I constructed art works, and a formal study of library and archival practices and use of technologies to create digital (immaterial) surrogates for material objects with a view to storage and retrieval. My recent work has been concerned with an indirect experience of a reality – reality filtered through some barrier, either physical or of partial knowledge.

Una Walker, Shadows and Reflections, Laser engraved Perspex, light 2017 Experimental maquette drawing on images of European partisans in Post World War I period.
Una Walker, Shadows and Reflections, Laser engraved Perspex, light
2017

Experimental maquette drawing on images of European partisans in Post World War I period.
Una Walker, Shadows and Reflections, Laser engraved Perspex, light, 2017
Una Walker, Shadows and Reflections, Laser engraved Perspex, light, 2017
Una Walker, ​​Discarded​ ​citizen​ ​of​ ​the​ ​state,​ ​Tuam, ​Wood,​ ​fabric,​ ​thread 2016 This​ ​work​ ​responds​ ​to​ ​recent​ ​revelations​ ​about​ ​the​ ​high​ ​infant​ ​mortality​ ​rate,​ ​and​ ​the​ ​careless​ ​disposal of​ ​the​ ​infants’​ ​bodies,​ ​in​ ​mother​ ​and​ ​baby​ ​homes​ ​run​ ​by​ ​religious​ ​orders​ ​in​ ​Ireland​ ​from​ ​the​ ​1920s​ ​to 1960s.
Una Walker, ​​Discarded​ ​citizen​ ​of​ ​the​ ​state,​ ​Tuam, ​Wood,​ ​fabric,​ ​thread
2016

This​ ​work​ ​responds​ ​to​ ​recent​ ​revelations​ ​about​ ​the​ ​high​ ​infant​ ​mortality​ ​rate,​ ​and​ ​the​ ​careless​ ​disposal of​ ​the​ ​infants’​ ​bodies,​ ​in​ ​mother​ ​and​ ​baby​ ​homes​ ​run​ ​by​ ​religious​ ​orders​ ​in​ ​Ireland​ ​from​ ​the​ ​1920s​ ​to 1960s.
Una Walker, Surveiller, Perspex panels, computer, webcam, monitor, 2009 Installation.​ ​Ormeau​ ​Baths​ ​Gallery​ ​Belfast,​ ​2009,​ ​as​ ​part​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Troubles​ ​Archive Exhibition. Data​ ​on​ ​art​ ​events​ ​held​ ​in​ ​Belfast​ ​from​ ​1968​ ​–​ ​2001,​ ​printed​ ​on​ ​Perspex​ ​sheets.​ ​Other elements​ ​of​ ​the​ ​installation​ ​include​ ​a​ ​searchable​ ​database,​ ​a​ ​webcam​ ​trained​ ​on​ ​people​ ​searching​ ​the database​ ​and​ ​a​ ​monitor​ ​showing​ ​the​ ​live​ ​footage.​ ​Size:​ ​variable​ ​depending​ ​on​ ​exhibition​ ​venue.
Una Walker, Surveiller, Perspex panels, computer, webcam, monitor, 2009

Installation.​ ​Ormeau​ ​Baths​ ​Gallery​ ​Belfast,​ ​2009,​ ​as​ ​part​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Troubles​ ​Archive Exhibition. Data​ ​on​ ​art​ ​events​ ​held​ ​in​ ​Belfast​ ​from​ ​1968​ ​–​ ​2001,​ ​printed​ ​on​ ​Perspex​ ​sheets.​ ​Other elements​ ​of​ ​the​ ​installation​ ​include​ ​a​ ​searchable​ ​database,​ ​a​ ​webcam​ ​trained​ ​on​ ​people​ ​searching​ ​the database​ ​and​ ​a​ ​monitor​ ​showing​ ​the​ ​live​ ​footage.​ ​Size:​ ​variable​ ​depending​ ​on​ ​exhibition​ ​venue.
Una Walker, Surveiller, Perspex panels, 2009
Una Walker, Surveiller, Perspex panels, 2009
Una Walker, Workplan​ ​(Block​ ​Pattern)​​, Fabric,​ ​paper, found​ ​objects, 2005 Installation.​ ​FABRYKA​ ​PHANTASMGORII,​ ​Siteation​ ​Project,​ ​Lodz, Poland.​ ​2005 Installation​ ​in​ ​an​ ​empty​ ​garment​ ​factory​ ​as​ ​part​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Europe-wide​ ​Sitations​ ​Project.​
Una Walker, Workplan​ ​(Block​ ​Pattern)​​, Fabric,​ ​paper, found​ ​objects, 2005

Installation.​ ​FABRYKA​ ​PHANTASMGORII,​ ​Siteation​ ​Project,​ ​Lodz, Poland.​ ​2005 Installation​ ​in​ ​an​ ​empty​ ​garment​ ​factory​ ​as​ ​part​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Europe-wide​ ​Sitations​ ​Project.​

Una Walker is an artist and academic. She has exhibited extensively in Ireland, the UK, Europe and internationally for over thirty years. The main focus of her work has been site-specific installations which have been commissioned for a wide variety of locations, including Dublin Airport, a cathedral in Wales, military fortifications in Ireland, Scotland and Finland and an empty garment factory in Poland. Her video and audio works have been included in international festivals: Obsession Festival Turkey; LUX London; and Soundworks, Cork.

She was a Research Fellow at NCAD from 2008-2016. Her research interests include the historiography of public policy for art and design in Ireland, and design history in Northern Ireland. She was a member of the Digital Repository of Ireland Core Implementation Team from 2011-14 and the principle investigator for the Kilkenny Design Workshops cataloguing and digitization project, completed in 2015.

Recent research relating to the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for Architecture in 2014, which in part dealt with building infrastructure in the newly created Irish state, prompted me to think about the practical mechanisms required for nation building and to look at the emergence of many small states during and following the First World War.

Past Residencies