Artist Statement | Taylor Young tcryoung@gmail.com
I was born into a family of artists and art enthusiasts in Iowa in 1979. They supported my work over the years as my career and artistic perspective unfolded. For me, even at an early age, art provided stability. It’s an outlet, a focus and a passion in my life.
Art has remained a strong influence, a love, and a life. My current work is a confluence of realistic, spare, modern symbolism. I am inspired by the human form and nature. I create images based on my life experience and memories to create iconographic images in a divine light. Often, I will use geometric elements to juxtapose with the natural lines of the human form or vegetation – skulls, mollusks, flowers. My process organically developed through an amalgamation of my training and experience. I use charcoals to give my pieces intricate detail with stark contrast and to create definition of meaning and line. I use watercolors to define pops of delicate color as an exploration of life and essence. The overall objective of my work is to create a focused meditative experience that explores life, nature, and the divine.
In 2000, I attended the University of Iowa and Iowa State University for fine arts with an emphasis in printmaking and computer animation. I studied under the Chinese Master Painter Li Aiguo, in gong bihua (Chinese detail brush painting). My early career allowed me to explore photography, working as a commercial photographer. Additionally, I apprenticed and worked as a tattoo artist, which offered a new form of expression that lives beyond the moment and thrives in the stories of the wearer. More recently, I was commissioned to paint five dome murals for WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, OK. Each area of the casino features a different cultural theme – with each mural designed to complement each theme. In 2008 I collaborated on a Mayfest mural, which appeared on the outside wall of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Juniper Restaurant commissioned five pieces for their permanent decor, which reflect Juniper’s mission of using the freshest ingredients possible. Building on my growing reputation as an accomplished artist, Tallgrass Prairie Table Restaurant commissioned me to create an original work for their new space, The Bramble. My art reflects the intersection of food and art, and the localvore movement, all of which are grounded in local art traditions and botany.