Gallery

ARTWORK DETAILS

Name: Taylor Blackley	School:
Title: Priomh-athair (Forefathers)	Medium: Painting
Description: Diptych. Mixed media artwork, dry point etching on watercolour paper, acrylic paint on stretched Linen, tapestry thread.

ARTIST STATEMENT

'Priomh-athair’ is an homage to my patriarchal influences. Strong metaphorical elements and symbols inform my work and provide a narrative for the audience to interrogate. Blue dominates, symbolic of father sky, yet also a critical reference to the red green colour blindness predominant in my family line. At 14 I inherited my father’s jersey and I am continually reminded that his sweat and DNA imbues the fabric. The etched images are both of heirloom objects from great grandfathers and macro investigations of fabrics belonging to my father. The unadorned canvas symbolic of future males in my family.

ARTWORK PROCESS

My work is about the fragments of memory that contribute to personal identity. Inspired by the work of Glen SKIEN I produced a series of dry point etchings as an homage to my patriarchs. These were applied to an activated linen surface. These etchings were then blended with applied paint layers to achieve a monochromatic composition and lacquered. Red stitching is symbolic of the threads that hold memory and family together and are deliberately running stitched in a naïve style reminiscent of childhood learning. Panel one represents my patriarchal history and the second panel represents possible future male lineage.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Taylor Blackley

I have a strong connection to my ancestors and this informs much of my artistic endeavour. My family originates in Wandoan approximately a century ago. I seek more to document than to specifically create. Curiously, it is in the documentation that I create artwork. Visual art is a relatively new endeavour for me as Dyslexia was a barrier to traditional academic pursuits, however it is in art that I find the most reward for effort. In my art I found a unique identity.