Elissa Cristall Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of watercolours by Vancouver artist Carrie Walker.

Walker often uses animal imagery as a metaphor for human activities and emotions. On occasion her work has been compared to that of Robert Bateman, Canada’s renowned wildlife artist. Walker writes "Although we both paint animals with verisimilitude, I believe our intentions are different and so I have been compelled to ask myself, what specifically distinguishes our work?"

Walker answers this question through her meticulous reproductions of Bateman images. Working in watercolour on paper she omits the traditional landscape background and leaves each creature floating on a sea of white. This led to the title of the project, The Effect of Space, and the discovery that it is the space left empty that alters its effect. Rather than offering the 'expected' scene, Walker offers the viewer the 'unexpected' and a place in which their own imagination may operate.