Xan Blood Walker

Xwalker's picture
Neighborhood: East Bay
Group Affiliation: Pier 2, Fort Mason
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Xan Blood Walkers photo collages are bold, contemporary, works of art, that seamlessly blend humour and darkness. She has a clever eye that utilizes elements of design. She prints her digital photos primarily on canvas and metal. To her the canvas is warm, and the metal is cold. Each add a different element to the works. Because they are digital photographs the final size of the image can be variable.

Xan Blood Walker was born in Seattle Washington in the heat of the summer. She learned print photography in high school, and went on to obtain two BFA's, one in printmaking and another in painting from the University of Washington. Many years later when pursuing graduate studies in counseling she obtained a Masters certificate in Art Therapy. Prior to her higher education she attended the school of hard knocks in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as an 80's street punk at the height of the punk rock scene. With over 20 years in recovery she finds a way to blend her varied experiences into a unique and personal style. Currently she is branching out into two new areas: documenting the living breathing urban landscape through photojournalism; and incorporating mixed media into her photography. She has already begun using graffiti marker, and hopes to add beeswax from her bee hive, as well as dip back into her printmaking background with stenciling, linoblock, and woodcutting.

ARTWORK
Xan has exhibited her work primarily in group shows in Seattle, San Francisco, Emeryville, Alameda, Oakland, Los Angeles, and New York.

HONORS AND ACTIVITIES
Xan was awarded a Links Scholarship for her woodblock print depictions of her emotional experiences around rape. She contributed as an intern artist for the mural project on the Women's Building in San Francisco, CA., in 1994.

PRESS
Studio Notes wrote an article about Xan in December of 1995, and she was honored to have a photo of hers used as the cover for the book 'Representations of the Cuban and Philippine Insurrections on the Spanish Stage 1887-1898" published in 2001 by D.J. O'Connor.