Olivia Taylor: The Studio
Practice Gallery is pleased to present Olivia Taylor’s The Studio, an immersive installation recreating the artist's own creative space. A peek behind the curtain, it features pieces in various states of completion, from finished, to in process, to failed attempts and raw materials. The studio environment can often provide more context for an artist's work, in how it’s made and what informs decisions, that may remain unseen in many curated gallery presentations. The art that is created out of this environment is a product of the environment itself, which is adorned with collections of doodads and tchotchkes that become part of the greater aesthetic vocabulary. Working out of a home studio, the line between the professional and private space is blurred, in part due to the simple logistics of storage scarcity. The objects have been collected throughout the artist's lifetime, some she has possessed her whole life, others have been purchased from dollar stores and thrift stores, and others have been gifted. Each object represents a different facet of the fabric of her personality and sensibilities that contribute to her own aesthetic decisions.
The work utilizes a sense of play and visual punchlines, often using toys and tactile materials such as silicone and foam, resulting in pieces that are meant to be interacted with. It often mimics commercial objects, or incorporates store bought items as part of the assemblage itself, obscuring the lines between found and fabricated. Content circles the play between childens and adult toys and hyperrealist textures and cartoon forms. The television also acts as an important character and ever present backdrop that passes the time and provides additional content and inspiration. The studio is meant to be a joyful place, where work is made for enjoyment and escapism, a place to have fun when she feels like doing so and not out of obligation. Viewers are encouraged to explore the space, put on a video, touch the work and consider how the sausage is made.
Bio
Olivia Taylor is a multimedia sculptor based in New York City. She received a BFA from FIT and an MFA from Brooklyn College, working as a professional fabricator for commercial projects and fine art. Her work mainly focuses on material and materiality. She creates tactile, stylized and interactive sculptures using materials such as silicone, foam, plastic and readymade objects. The work plays with how material possessions adhere to and form different aspects of our identities, specifically her own. She believes that material goods are actually embedded heavily with evidence of humanity in how they are conceived, produced, marketed and consumed by people.
