Caroline Walker: Mothering

‘The subject of my paintings in its broadest sense is women’s experience, whether that is the imagined interior life of a glimpsed shop worker, a closely observed portrayal of my mother working in the family home, or women I’ve had the privilege of spending time with, in their place of work. From the anonymous to the highly personal, what links all these subjects is an investigation of an experience which is specifically female.’

– Caroline Walker

Caroline Walker's major solo exhibition Mothering is on view at Pallant House Gallery (UK), previously on view at The Hepworth Wakefield (UK) from May to October 2025. Mothering is organised by The Hepworth Wakefield in collaboration with Pallant House Gallery.

Receiving wide acclaim for her accomplished paintings, which offer a lens into the everyday lives of women, Walker's large canvases, intimate panels and ink sketches, portray diverse female subjects in settings that blur the boundaries between public and private. Her works reveal the complex social, cultural and economic experiences of women living in contemporary society. The exhibition will bring together works made over the past five years with new paintings exploring themes of motherhood and early-years care.

Caroline Walker: Mothering is accompanied by an illustrated monograph of the same title, published by Lund Humphries in September 2025. 

The exhibition will travel to Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange, Penzance (UK), from May 23 – November 7, 2026.

About Pallant House Gallery

Pallant House Gallery, located in Chichester, West Sussex, is a renowned institution celebrated for its premier collection of Modern British art (1900–present) housed within a unique blend of an 18th-century Queen Anne townhouse and a contemporary, award-winning wing. The collection includes significant pieces by artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Ceri Richards, and Walter Sickert.

About The Hepworth Wakefield

The Hepworth Wakefield is an award-winning art gallery in the heart of Yorkshire, set within Wakefield’s historic waterfront overlooking the River Calder. Designed by the acclaimed David Chipperfield Architects, The Hepworth Wakefield is home to Wakefield’s art collection – an impressive compendium of modern British art, including works by Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron, L.S. Lowry, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore as well as work by significant contemporary artists such as Frank Auerbach, Maggi Hambling, Martin Parr and Eva Rothschild.

About the Artist

Caroline Walker was born in 1982 in Dunfermline, Scotland (UK) where she now lives and works again. Walker received a BA in Painting from Glasgow School of Art in 2004 and an MA in Painting from The Royal College of Art in 2009.

Recent solo exhibitions include: Mothering, The Hepworth Wakefield (UK); The Holiday Park, GRIMM, New York, NY (US); Nurture, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (UK); Women Observed, K11, Shanghai (CN); Lisa, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London (UK); A Female Gaze, Nottingham Castle, Nottingham (UK); Caroline Walker: Birth Reflections, The Fitzrovia Chapel, London (UK); Windows, KM21, Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL); Women's Work, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham (UK); Nearby, GRIMM, New York, NY (US). 

Selected group exhibitions include: Good Mom/Bad Mom – Unraveling the Mother Myth, Centraal Museum, Utrecht (NL); Mama: From Mary to Merkel, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (DE); Beyond these Walls, AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL); Works on Paper – Women Artists, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen (UK); A Room Hung With Thoughts: British Painting Now, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX (US) and Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, Hayward Gallery Touring, Bristol; Birmingham; Sheffield; Dundee (UK).

Walker is represented in a number of major public collections including: Aberdeen Art Gallery (UK); Aïshti Foundation (LB); Art Gallery of New South Wales (AU); Arts Council of England (UK); The British Museum (UK); Dallas Museum of Art (US); He Art Museum (CN); The Hepworth Wakefield (UK); High Museum of Art (US); Huamao Beijing Foundation (CN); The Hunterian (UK); Institute of Contemporary Art Miami (US); Kistefos Museum (NO); Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL); Museum of Fine Arts Houston (US); Museum Voorlinden (NL); National Galleries of Scotland (UK); National Museum of Wales (UK); The National Museum of Women in the Arts (US); The Parliamentary Art Collection (UK); Pallant House Gallery (UK); Pérez Art Museum (US); The Rachofsky Collection (US); Sifang Art Museum (CN); Tate (UK); The UK Government Art Collection (UK); The University of Cambridge (UK); University of Warwick (UK); and Yale University Art Gallery (US).

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