Looking beyond the physical surface, Vicki Walsh captures the depth of a person's soul in her hyper-realistic portraits. Touching the Surface features large scale portraits of important people who have touched her life. By breaking down the face and amplifying minute details found on the skin's surface, Walsh makes room for the viewer to contemplate what lies underneath.

Academically trained as a painter and illustrator, Walsh's fifteen-year experience as a forensic medical illustrator provided her a strong understanding for how to analyze and visually interpret the figure with exquisite detail. Her in-depth process involves hundreds of transparent layers of oil glaze that achieve subtle tonalities of color. In her conceptual paintings, Walsh is concerned with generating concepts that reflect her strong aesthetic instincts and interest in seeking a deeper truth.