4-6 Years Experience
Ash Taylor
Fine Artist and Sculptor
Available For:
Custom Commission, Collaboration, Selling Existing Work, Teaching / Residency, BLINK Week Collaboration
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About the Artist
I'm a sculptor and fine artist; my current works (2023- Present) draw from my history of trauma. I’ve tried to turn pain into something you can see and hold. The forms carry density, tension, and a sense of raw confrontation.
The matriarchs in my family line inspired me to make this vessel-like sculpture. I derived inspiration from my German and Scot-English Appalachian roots, exploring containers from both cultures. This investigation created a piece that has the visual weight of cast iron cookware and cauldrons associated with women and domestic labor. The repeatedly pinched surface of the form connotes a hum, pulse, or meditative rhythm. Supporting a universal connection between heartbeat and DNA. Both a reliquary and a memorial, the work reflects a portrait of a life that required emotional armor, strength, endurance, and survival.
8 x 2 1/2 x 1 ft.
An overactive amygdala can cause those suffering from it to be triggered by nearly anything. Because of consistent trauma, the amygdala in the brain now sees everything as a threat.
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We see the eye viewing everything as a threat, wide open and can't look away, the tears streaming down below it. Walking up to the eye, we notice the eyelashes are needles, warning us that poking the eye could, in turn, hurt us, perpetuating a cycle of hurt and pain. Lights in the pupil point to a button.
repurposed lamp made of plastic, glass, yarn, beads, silicone, acrylic, and metal. It is 2 ft x 8 inches, the shade being 12 in in diameter. The work was labor-intensive and took nearly 56 hours. I rewired the lamp and placed a pink lightbulb with a heart shaped filament. I then made fake skin with silicone and acrylic paint, then I attached each fiber and bead, placing the silicone skin last. The top of the lamp shade has French braided fibers reminiscent of hair.
The Lamp is me; I am this monster; I’m all of these parts and bits made up from my experiences. Compounded trauma can leave you feeling broken. But one experience that has mended me has been love. Although I’m still scarred from the worst moments, I’ve found solace through my relationships and friendships. It’s given me the safety to be myself and allowed me to bring myself back together again.
Despite the experiences that made me feel monstrous, I was able to finally put that aside and feel beautiful again. Sometimes you go through experiences that make you feel gross, ashamed, confused, and upset. But turning towards the people who love you during those moments will give you connection and allow you to repair yourself through acceptance and understanding.
I wanted the triptych to look raw and rough; the red shares passion, grief, sadness, and anger. I think the first question we ask ourselves when dealing with a trauma is, Why? Why me, why now, why is this happening. The busyness of the work shows how much the mind races, the rough edges of the square figure on the top left convey how sharp you can feel in these moments, and how much destruction is happening within, and how prickly you can feel within the grief and pain. The top right sad clown dons a party hat because you still have to perform outside of this trauma in ways that force you to show up
I was inspired by Louise Nevelson and Keith Haring