Kerra Taylor – Anniversary Art Exhibition

• Artist Portfolio Magazine – 5 Year Anniversary Art Exhibition
• Kerra Taylor – Carbodale, IL

The theatrics of storytelling is a powerful aspect of culture and is a means to create another reality that stretches beyond our ordinary lives, exploring the stories around us, or as a means to express our personal experiences. Each generation finds a way to tell stories that reflect their time. The people who tell us these stories attempt to connect us to the world by illustrating who we are and where we come from historically and presently. This correlation gives us a sense of belonging. Without origin, I am disconnected from the awareness of self.

A story has three major components: a protagonist, an antagonist, and a conflict. There is also the setting: the place and the time that the story exists. For every person, for every story, the framework is different. My work exploits the narrative potential of painting. A painting, however, cannot encompass the entirety of a narrative, but it can imply a narrative. It functions more like a single scene from the story rather than the whole story. When we take a scene out of context, we are left to fill in the gaps. In this manner, I allow room for the viewer to enter into my paintings and complete the stories with their own past experiences.

I playfully question my relationships with relatives and the generational impact of denied access to family history. I see the disconnection in the external and internal dialogs of relationships. When looking at my family, I am intertwined with that social group but I am disassociated from the connection. My paintings are embellishments of personal experiences with them, as I complete my holes in the awareness of the loss of their stories. By putting my characters in these normal settings with such unusual circumstances, I create my own stories, both familiar and fantastic at the same time.