Figures taken from black and white photographs become the subject of oil on wallboard sketches that are used to create larger narratives in reverse painting on the glass of old windows.
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Process of an Artist Mind
The studio, for me, represents a workplace and a mental space for ruminating about a concept and provides the motif for my paintings. I collect snippets from mass media, art history, literature, conversations and encounters, memories and dreams. These connect to debris I’ve picked up. Because my process is based on the wanderings of my mind, the artwork is filled with a lot of stuff. The combination of known and eccentric lends a recognizable but otherworldly quality to the work while layering imparts a sense of obsession. Found windows and doors are used because they are objects suggesting voyeurism, duality, and transition—from the world of the viewer to the surface of the picture and even behind the glass itself.
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Archived Works
American Prayer Flags: By combining the American flag with Tibetan Prayer flags and portraits of children I hope to create a positive experience in a fearful, cynical, and disjointed world.
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Artist Video
Résumé
Artist Statement
As an artist, I am a storyteller. That means that when I tell a story it is with the audience in mind. It also means that I closely observe to find that people, places, and things are what they are, but they can also be something else. I have a tendency to think in words, so my life is rich in patterns and descriptors but poor on a defining point. Although I will share a wealth of information, there is always a bit I keep just inside myself.
Translated to my visual art work, I use representational imagery because it is most discernible to others. I use children as subject matter because, like me, they will take any material, object, or situation and use it to fulfill the necessity of the moment. Conveniently, too, childhood is an experience we share, and children are our projection into the future. I collect throwaways to paint on or transform because they have a history, a tale of their own to tell. I glory in cliché because it can be such shorthand for conveying something. I know that everything in this universe--in this multi-verse--has a secret. And I can catch a glimpse of it if I just watch and do and do and watch.
My hope for folks experiencing my art work is that they take the time to peel away the layers of information, find those parts that they have in common, and recall a feeling, a story, a secret that they might have forgotten or didn't know that they had.
Artist Biography
Carol Taylor-Kearney is an artist, arts educator, and curator. She is a life-long resident of southern New Jersey where she collects materials for her reverse glass paintings on found windows, doors, and frames; for her work on canvas and flags; and for her installations. A graduate of Rowan University (BA in Art Education) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (MFA), she has worked as the Coordinator of Graduate Studies at PAFA, taught Studio Art at Burlington County College and Rowan University, and was the curator at StrataSphere, an exhibition space in Philadelphia. She has served as a Cultural and Heritage Commissioner for Gloucester County, NJ.
Generally, Taylor-Kearney works in series that she compiles in multiple presentations. Arcadian Dreams (2016) was shown at Atlantic Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the Settlement Music School. American Prayer Flags (2019) traveled from Atlantic Gallery to Cerulean Arts Gallery. She is responsible for pulling together artist friends for exhibitions she curates such as Plein Air, Plain Air, Plane Air (2019) at Cerulean Arts, More Fun Than Fun (2018) at Iona College, and The Personal Picture Plane (2007) at Gloucester County College and Stratasphere, to name a few.
Carol Taylor-Kearney has been exhibited nationally and her art is part of both public and private collections including Wells Fargo Bank, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Queensborough College, CUNY, Gloucester County Public Library, and Penn Medicine. Art Fairs she has participated in are the Parallax Art Fair and the Clio Art Fair. Support includes grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Artist Fellowship, Inc., and artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Peters Valley Craft Center, and the Pouch Cove Foundation in Newfoundland. She is represented by Atlantic Gallery, an artist co-op in Chelsea, NYC and Cerulean Arts Collective in Philadelphia. She writes an art blog, www.whatsartblog.com, and presents the #OneMinuteCrit on Instagram. Most recently she has opened an art gallery in Collingswood, NJ called Powell Lane Arts. To find more information visit www.PowellLaneArts.com.
Education
1998 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA MFA
1994 Art/Art Education, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ BA
Other Education
2004 Art Seminar at Villanova University/Violette de Mazia Foundation Wayne, PA
2003 Art Seminar at Barnes Foundation/Violette de Mazia Foundation Wayne, PA
Awards & Honors
2009 Artist Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT Vermont Studio Center Grant
2007 Artist Residency, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ
Grant + stipend from Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Morristown, NJ
2005 Artist Grant, Artists Fellowship, Inc., New York, NY
2004 Artist Residency, Pouch Cove Arts Foundation, Pouch Cove Newfoundland, Canada
2003 Artist Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson VT
Grant for NJ Artist, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Morristown, NJ
2017 Artist Talk (with Ruth Wolf and Peter Treiber), Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY
2016 Artist Lecture, Edward Williams Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson University
2010 Picasso in Bloom, Lecture, Croft Farm Art Center, Cherry Hill, NJ
2008 Contemporary Art, Lecture series, Katz Jewish Community Center, Cherry Hill, NJ
2007 Artists on Art, Lecture/Q&A, Willingboro Art Alliance, Kennedy Center, Willingboro, NJ
2006 Juror Lecture/Q & A, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
Exhibitions
Solo
2022 Reflection. Window, Reflection, Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2021 Process of an Artist Mind, Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2020 Leaving Traces, Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Past is Present, Waverly Heights Gallery, Gladwyne, PA 2020
Process of an Artist Mind, Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA. December 9, 2020 – January 10, 2021. Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY. September 10 – September 26, 2020
2016 Arcadian Dream, Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY Travels to: Edward Williams Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson Universty, Teaneck, NJ Samuel Lieberman Gallery, Settlement Music School, Philadelphia, PA
2011 In the Studio Series, Krempp Gallery, Jasper Art Center, Jasper, IN
2009 Gnomenculture, Projects 09 at the Carriage House, Islip Museum, East Islip, NY