John Walsh describes his heritage as Te Aitanga Hauiti / New Zealand / Irish. John studied at the Canterbury Art School however he is largely self taught.
His work has a distinctive, undeniably New Zealand look incorporating spiritual and mythological images and landscapes. Through his paintings he tells the stories of Aotearoa and celestial and earthly travel. He uses washes of translucent colour and creates a place where the viewer can enter and view a world of spirits and ancestors.
He has been involved in meeting house projects and has worked at Gisborne Museum and Te Papa.
