Note From Cyrus: Hello friends! This page is more of a flow of conciseness. I will add things to it as I write them (or other people). My ideas change, but I will not edit older writings. I will just continue to add.
Early years.
I grew up in a rural area of northern Vermont where cows outnumber people. With out a lot of conventional teenage activities to participate in, I found myself spending a lot of time wandering the green landscape and wondering about my personal circumstances. I was a child born into a world without internet and no way to learn about the world other than books and experience. Of corse this all changed when I got a little older, but with the earth still in the early stages of accepting this new found way to share knowledge I primarily kept on with my preferred method of experiencing the world, personal experience. I learned how to trust my interests and insight. Eventually I moved to Montana to study at Montana State University. Oddly enough I did not apply to the art program as I believed that my mind and body were better suited to pursue a career in some field involving the outdoors. This feeling quickly dissipated and was consumed by a deep feeling of uncertainty, not only for my future, but who I was as a person and what I could offer this world. Things being as they were I decided to do when I don't know what to do, and that is to do what comes natural. I had shown an interest in art as a child and all though high school I was able to take classes like computer arts and animation and life drawing. I was quite adept at getting my thoughts onto paper and communicating on a visual level. In fact, my early thoughts about pursuing higher education involved art school, but after visiting a couple programs around the country I came to the conclusion that artists are a strange bunch of shut-ins and I wanted nothing to do with them. Boy did I eat my words as I filled out the paperwork to be considered as a student at MSU's art school where I went on to study graphic design and illustration. Eventually I found myself as a fresh college alumni with a budding career as I graphic designer. I had taken it upon myself to start a little business in Bozeman Montana providing identity systems, package design, advertising for the local businesses within Gallatin county and a few clients on a national scale. Things were good. I was happy working with my hands and mind everyday, but something was festering inside of me. I have always been a bit of a busy body. Finding things to do in my downtime has never been am issue for me. I believe I can thank my rural upbringing for that. I started filling up my time messing around with little art related side projects. I would make posters featuring attractions of Yellow Stone National Park and sell them to vendors. I would draw some quirky tongue and cheek image and get it screen printed on shirts and sell them to local businesses. The list of side projects was long and one item on that list was painting. I had never really given any serious thought to pursuing fine art as a career as I seemed like a lot of pandering to the better nature of gallery owners who, "Have been in that art business a long time and know how things work." My initial feelings about the industry turned out to be correct, but I trudged along with earnest and was eventually granted access by a handful of encouraging and enthusiastic gallery owners to show my work with them. By the time I could call myself a professional artist I had completely shut down the design business and was entirely swept away by the current of the art world. This was a beautiful awakening. I now spent my time not concerned with the constant dilemma of the design world of trying to communicate someone else’s thoughts and ideas into a visual form and instead I could focus on my own. This freedom to contemplate ones own mind can be a foreboding endeavor, but I took it in stride. I called upon my early beginning and how I used to formulate opinions about the world and before other peoples truths started to influence my own. Through deep meditation and a healthy pursuit of my own interests I began to let myself unravel the knotted mess that was my mind. I had thoughts and right or wrong they were my own. As the philosopher Rene Descartes once said, "I think, therefor I am." This is essentially a contemplation of ones own existence and an and understanding that nearly every sensation can be the false or not to be taken at face value. The mind however, influenced or not is the proof of existence and whatever thoughts or feelings are generated can be valid in one way or another. This sentiment was later argued in opposition by Hobbs, but we can get into that another time. Ultimately, I started painting my own mythology of the world. Most of the work has some underlying message utilizing the common themes of life but rarely thought about or remembered.
Process:
In one hand I look for common themes within human nature that tie us all together. In the other I focus only on communicating things that might only have meaning to me. Both of these pursuits have merit but I am most fascinated by the latter. I like it when the viewer sees a message or theme in work that was brought about solely from my personal relationship with the muse. This brings about a question of absolute truth. Are there things in this world that have universal meaning? I like to use symbolism in my work as it reminds me of the classic painters and their pursuits. The process of painting always begins in the mind. Acute attention is focused on a feeling and then comes the task of communicating what is usually better suited to exist only in the mind onto canvas.
For Cyrus Walker, painting is not merely a physical practice that produces an image, but, in its best form, an alchemic one as well. Walker elegantly relates his practice to ‘building a cathedral out of sand.' His raw visual and conceptual materials are scattered enough that the process feels fragile in nature, but the end product is lent structure from the collective ideas and narratives that the viewer brings to the imagery contained in his work.
While Cyrus Walker's graphic paintings overtly reference recognizable imagery from Western Americana, a closer look at his pieces reveals a complex amalgamation of disparate themes, influences, and symbolism. From the aesthetics of Mid-Century American illustration to a wide range of philosophical, scientific, and religious texts, Walker pulls from an unlikely cohort of source material to forge visually and conceptually rich works that are greater than the sum of their parts. When I met with Walker recently on a video call, he had just returned home from a trip to Great Falls, Montana (an hour and a half or so from his home in Helena), where he’d been delivering new work to a gallery. While introducing himself, he showed me the three books by his workstation that he’d been reading in turns, all non-fiction: "Quadrivium," a tome on the four classical liberal arts, a book on the occult, and a technical looking text about art restoration. In a compelling contrast with the comic book panel stylings of his works on canvas, his studio contained little in the way of light reading. Walker is part artist, part philosopher, and the contents of the academic texts he absorbs seep back out of his consciousness and into his studio practice. Walker puts a great deal of himself into his paintings. Personal mythology is a recurring theme embedded throughout his body of work, and his self-reflective process results in works of art that feel viscerally relatable. And while his pieces are complexly layered with symbolism and abstract concepts, he prefers to leave most of their interpretation up to the viewer, preserving the immediacy of their emotional impact.
Trained as a graphic designer, Walker transitioned first to illustration, and then gradually but inevitably to fine art. When he first began painting, he approached the process almost like screen-printing, limiting his palette to just a few solid colors. While he no longer applies those constraints to his work, his design background still shines in his deft, exacting use of color.
Like many creatives, Walker finds it difficult to switch off the part of his brain that is perpetually churning over his work. But in his opinion, making art is perhaps one of the only vocations where it’s acceptable – and maybe even necessary – to always be ‘on the clock,’ constantly preoccupied with your work, even when you’re not in the studio. Life is short, and for an artist like himself, a life spent doing what he loves is one well spent. - Written by: Edith Willey
The power of the press and the production of commercial quality art. Cyrus’ work reflects and manipulates the mass produced dime novels and comic books that influenced the themes of the west. The Western art genre is a carful balance of mythology and preservation.
At some point in the history of the Western art genre there was a removal of the artist capturing the scenes and happening surrounding them and was replaced with the more fictional tales of the west. With help from the enthusiastic collectors and art connoisseurs residing in the eastern United States, the western genre began to take form. It is an interesting form of art because there is just as much fiction as there is fact. The western genre began to embody the ideas that we recognize today. Where men are rough, rugged and chivalrous. Vicious outlaws mingle with proud pioneers at a rowdy poker table and disputes are settled with a gunfight. All while surrounded by majestic mountain peaks and tumbling tumbleweeds. The early western painters paved the way for the phenomenon known as the, “Imagined West”. Their artwork made appearances in national magazines and other popular publications. The eager masses gobbled up the imagery and helped build the “Idea of the West”. These ideas of the mystical and Wild West became solidified as the mass production of dime novels emerged in 1859 by Beadle’s Novel Publishing House.This says a lot for the depth that the Wild West had permeated popular society. There was enough documentation or collective opinion to generate tall tales or factual stories ( it is hard to say which trumps the other) about the happenings of the land beyond the Mississippi. Wether factual or fictional the mass persuasion and shared recollections of the west is what peaked Cyrus’ curiosity.
Cyrus studied graphic design in school and was fascinated by the power mass produced print products can have on forming the identity of the west. While studying art, Cyrus was also working at an antique store that exposed him to vintage documents and publications that set him on a path to study the widely distributed work. Cyrus’ work is not created in a classical western style. Instead, he uses classic ideas and commercial style to capture and manipulate the, “Imagined West”.
Cyrus Walker was born in Vermont during the month of January. He started to learn about art and the unique perspective it can provide. He studied under his Uncle who was an Art Director at a respectable advertising firm in Boston, MA. Through the close observation of his Uncle’s work, Cyrus learned first hand how images can be used to speak without uttering a word. It was also through the study of advertising that Cyrus learned about the interesting way commercial illustrators stylize their work.
Cyrus studied graphic design and marketing at Montana State University where he learned about the principals of design. While in school, Cyrus opened a small design company where he had the privilege of working with brands from all around the United States. He has always made a point to incorporate as many analog tools as appropriate while completing jobs in the field of advertising. By studying the work from designers dating back to the 1930’s, Cyrus carved out his own style of illustration and design. His enthusiasm for design is apparent in his fine art.
The shift from design to fine art was a natural one. Many of the principals of design and fine art are the same. It is just the medium that changes. Cyrus currently lives in Montana, and that is probably the reason why he has been focusing on western painting. The western genre is very interesting because it parallels the overall history of art, but it has it’s own time line determined by location. They study of western art is rewarding because of its unique ties to early American history. Cyrus is continuing the narrow time line of American Western paintings.
It is very difficult for me to write about my paintings. I know that people expect artists to talk about the origins of their ideas that brought a painting into the world, but the thoughts can be fleeting and hard to tie down. The only definitive answer would be to describe the technical aspects of the work.
Honestly, I make my paintings because they allow me to continue to explore a style that interests me. Western themes are interesting to me because they have a bit of mystery to them. The Romans created work in the likeness of their gods. The lingering icons of the American West are a sort of deity to me. The ideas of the romantic west are continually stripped away in modern times, but the pieces that remain are dipped in the purest of gold. I am a proctor, panning in the river of my mind to unearth my gold.
It seems cruel to force a person who is best suited by visual communication to write about the very ideas that he can not describe. - Cyrus
When I sit down to start a painting it is a time of reflection. I take a moment to think about my understanding of the universe and how its mysteries flow around in a chaotic swirl we call consciousness. The art is a way to slow the current to a standstill so that just for a moment, we can catch a passing glance of something just below the surface.
My art has evolved over time. As I grow more comfortable in my station in life I find that my paintings tend to reflect my curiosities. I ask myself, " How do you paint a state of awareness, and how do you do it using a cowboy?".
I find my work to be guilty of not staying true to the western narrative, but instead utilizing western imagery to play out broader ideas of our world. There can be a happy balance of these two states. Creativity through careful selection and limited tools. Some of the best things in life came about by combining two unrelated ingredients. Like peanut butter and jelly.
-Cyrus
2025 - Group Show, Dick Idol Signature Gallery, Whitefish, MT
2025 - C.M. Russel Auction, Great Falls, MT
2025 - Meditations - Cassens Fine Art, Hamilton, MT
2025 - Neon Range Show - West Chelsea Contemporary, Austin TX
2024 - Solo Show - Dick Idol Signature Gallery, Whitefish, MT
2024 - Far West Show - Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
2024- SPF 90 Cowpoke - Cassens Fine Art, Hamilton, MT
2024 - Auction - C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT
2024 - Best Of the West Show, Great Falls, MT
2024 - Solo Show - Montana Trails, Bozeman, MT
2023 - Solo Show - Dick Idol Signature Gallery, Whitefish, MT
2023- Solo Show - Cassens Fine Art, Hamilton, MT
2023- Exhibition - Best Of The West Show, Great Falls, MT
2022 - Solo Show - Art Focus, Hamilton, MT
2022 - Boy Howdy Show - Buda, TX
2022 - Best Of The West Show - Great Falls , MT
2022 - Standard Gallery - Steamboat, CO
2021 - Echo Arts - Bozeman, MT
2021 - Gallery Artist - Art Focus - Hamilton, MT
2021 - Solo Show - Dick Idol Signature Gallery - Whitefish, MT
2021 - Solo Show - Courtney Collins Fine Art - Big Sky, MT
2021 - Out West Art Show - Great Falls, MT
BFA - Graphic Design - Montana State University
2020 - Gallery Artist - Diel Gallery - Jackson, WY
2020 - Big Sky Art Council Auction - Big Sky, MT
2019 - Bozeman Stampede - Bozeman, MT
2019 - Big Sky Professional Bull Riders - Big Sky, MT
2019 - Big Sky PBR - Auction - Big Sky, MT
2019 - Shift - Stettie Ruth - Bozeman, MT
2019 - Gallery Artist - True West - Santa Fe, NM
2019 - Gallery Artist - Creighton Block Gallery - Big Sky, MT
2018 - Gallery Artist - Creighton Block Gallery - Big Sky, MT
2018 - Trophy Room - Stapleton Gallery - Billings, MT
2018 - Slow West - Stettie Ruth - Bozeman, MT
2018 - Big Sky Professional Bull Riders - Big Sky, MT
2018 - Miles City Bucking Horse Sale - Miles City, MT
2018 - Livingston Roundup - Livingston MT
2018 - Bozeman Stampede - Bozeman, MT
2018 - New Mexico State Fair - Albuquerque, NM
2018 - Rotating Artist - Sun Dog Fine Art - Bozeman, MT
2018 - Gallery Artist - True West - Santa Fe, NM
2017 - Juried Show - Green Room Gallery - Livingston, MT
2017 - Quick Draw/Auction - Bucking Horse Sale - Miles City, MT
2017 - Light - Walker Gallery, Bozeman - MT
2016 - Juried Show - Helen Copland Gallery - Bozeman, MT
2016 - Mural Installation - Alchemist Brewery - Stowe, VT
2016 - BYOA - Cottonwood Club - Bozeman, MT
2015 - Juried Show - Helen Copland Gallery - Bozeman, MT
2015 - Poster Selection - Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone, WY