Kris Walker
Artist Statement
In his 30+ year journey as a photographer and digital artist, Kris Walker has always been drawn to architecture and the geometry of buildings. This series began as an exploration of shape and pattern. Starting with tightly cropped photos of architectural details, he looked for interesting shapes and patterns. Rotating and mirroring those patterns further broke down those elements into abstractions. That led to geometric patterns reminiscent of a kaleidoscope, which then inspired the use of saturated colors to contrast the monochromatic finish on most buildings. In a way, the antithesis of architecture.
Fundamentally, architectural design is bound by utility. Everything from how the space is used by the client to the basic properties of the construction materials constrains what is possible. Stripping away the physical structure allows Kris to transform those buildings into the pure elements of visual design (shape, color, pattern, etc.). This series expresses a core element of my creative soul – the exploration of possibilities. The question he constantly asks in his work is “What if…?”. All of these pieces began with photographs taken of buildings in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.
