A voracious reader of colonial letters and diaries, Walton Ford
is fascinated by the fear and wonder of nature that he finds in
historical texts. “The big thing I’m always looking for in my work is a
sort of attraction-repulsion, where the stuff is beautiful to begin with
until you notice that some sort of horrible violence is about to happen
or is in the middle of happening.” Commenting on a large watercolor
depicting a frenzy of birds falling with a massive branch, he explains
that the birds are “satisfying all their lusts...as they are going
down.” Contrasting the romanticized tradition of Audubon with the
destructive qualities of existence, Ford merge a dreamlike vision with a
frenetic and comic reality.
