Maggie Taylor’s vivid photomontages are awash with whimsy, story and symbolism. In this month’s Gallery Favorites segment we each chose one image from Taylor’s exhibition Internal Logic that personally speaks to each of us, and detail what we find intriguing and delightful about each work. For this post, we are pleased to have Maggie share her favorite as well.
We hope you enjoy viewing our favorite prints from the exhibition, and please reach out if you have questions about any of the selected artworks — Maggie Taylor’s Internal Logic is currently on view in the photo-eye Gallery, and the newly signed monograph, and limited edition that includes a print, is available through our bookstore- HERE.
Anne Kelly selects If I Had a Boat
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| Portrait of Gallery Director Anne Kelly |
My first rule of collecting is select images you love, even if you can't yet identify why. You will have plenty of time to discover what about the image spoke to you. If you are looking for a more conscious strategy, try making a selection that contains a visual element that you have a personal connection with. I believe that art and music, have the power to stir the imagination and assist in revisiting fond memories. Images that have that transformative power are, in my opinion, rewarding and joyful to live with.
In following my advice, the image that I have selected from our current exhibition is "If I had a Boat". When I was growing up, my grandparents lived on a lake and my grandmother owned a small butterfly sailboat. Some of my fondest memories are watching my grandmother sail, and, as I got older, taking sailing lessons. When I focus on this image, I am temporarily transported back to those carefree Summer days on the lake...the sun on my skin, water splashing, the smell of sunscreen, and perhaps even my grandmother's voice in the distance.
Maggie Taylor selects The Game
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| Maggie Taylor, The Game, 2021, Archival Pigment Print, 15x15", edition of 15, $3,200 |
As is normally the case, my personal favorite image is the one I most recently finished. “The Game” started with an intriguing pair of dogs, painted at different times by different artists. I added in a third character — a combination of a baby elephant skeleton I photographed at the Natural History Museum in Oxford, England, a few years ago and a small painting of Napoleon I found at an antique sale. Since there was no person to interact with these creatures, I added the woman who exists in a different dimension, but still has the ability to play with the dogs. Probably the most fun aspect of working on this image was exploring all the possible color palettes and outfits for each character.
Jovi Esquivel selects The Gathering
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| Maggie Taylor, The Gathering, 2021, Archival Pigment Print, 15x15", edition of 15, $3,200 |
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| Portrait of Gallery Associate Jovi Esquivel |
Throughout history, the open palm has been associated with truth, honesty, and openness; in this image, I'd like to think of it as a surrender to a sense of wonder.
I grew up in Southern California, not in a coastal city, but the thirty-minute drive to my favorite beach made it an easy place to escape to. The view offered by HWY 1 (PCH), heading south toward the state park was the first gift of promise. Now, as a meditative practice, I try to recall as much detail as I can— the range of aqua between me and the horizon while I stand on the shore, the salty breeze, the shock from the touch of cold water that seems to wake every fiber in me. If you've been in the Pacific Ocean, you know it isn't an easy body of water to enter, but I've learned to respect its nature and in turn, it has taught me how to trust myself and follow my intuition. Submerging into its wildness reconnects my soul to my body.
The vivid colors found in Maggie Taylor's The Gathering reconnect me to the moments I have spent standing at my favorite shoreline, bracing myself physically to accept the gifts that come from surrender.
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| Internal Logic — Photographs and Art by Maggie Taylor |
Internal Logic highlights Taylor's sense of what makes an image 'work' and offers insights into the shape and contours of her inspirations.
*The Limited Edition contains one 8"x8" Archival Print.
photo-eye Gallery is proud to represent Maggie Taylor.
Print costs are current up to the time of posting and are subject to change.
To learn more about these and other works by Maggie Taylor, or to acquire specific prints,
please contact photo-eye Gallery Director Anne Kelly or Gallery Associate Jovi Esquivel.
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