“The big, big thing I’m always looking for in my work is a sort of attraction-repulsion thing, 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. Or that it’s some sort of interior monologue.”

Walton Ford from the Paul Kasmin website

"Blue whales are a drag. They're big but boring," the artist says dismissively. "What do they eat, krill? I cannot paint a krill eater. The thing doesn't have any fucking teeth. I like things that bite. A sperm whale, Moby-Dick, that's my kind of subject. A bad-ass."

Walton Ford
New York Magazine, October 21, 2002

Mr. Ford is an extrodinary artist, visionary and all round smart guy. Robbie clued me into him and his work. His bio (via pbs) is succinct...and references J.J. Audubon with a twist of concept and ideas

He said in NY Magazine about Audubon:

"He was a mean-spirited liar. He made enemies wherever he went. He was repulsed by Native Americans. He shot more birds than he ever painted . . . a total dick and not even that good an artist. Yet his work became the standard for how nature is shown. I try to address this dialectic."

Knocked right off of pedestal...

I love this guy. Love his attitude. Adore his work.
Read a little about him on the PBS site. Check out his work at the Paul Kasmin Gallery.

“Madagascar”
2002
Watercolor, gouache, ink and pencil on paper, 120 x 60 inches
Private collection, San Francisco
Courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York