Deb Taylor

Artist’s Statement      

My art practice is driven by a desire to lead people into contemplation. Generally, we are drawn to beauty and repulsed by ugliness.  Implicit in the idea of beauty is often an assumption of/equivalence to perfection, and the binary opposites of ugly/imperfect.  But when what is perceived as beautiful/perfect or ugly/imperfect – in regards to the environment (both natural and built) – our judgements can be coloured by notions of usefulness, worthiness and economic value over an acceptance, in the case of nature, that it can just be, exist as it is, that it is in a perfect, albeit shifting state.

I am interested in how the mangrove, a unique and diverse plant, embodies these binaries of beautiful/ugly, useful/useless as well as above and below, tough and fragile, submerged and exposed, seen and unseen whilst being part of an intricate network of connections between each other, the Earth, water, air and the creatures that inhabit the same liminal space as the mangroves.  For this exhibition I am interested in exploring these ideas through a series of large photo-paintings, possibly collaborating with a photographer or using images taken from magazines, where the photographic image is printed onto one half of the canvas to which I then paint a response to the photographic image on the other half (http://www.instagram.com/morepressingmatters).

 

All work is previous work. Work will be made specifically for the exhibition.

 

Text edited by Zahidah Zeytoun Millie – Curator