Taylor Greenfield

BFA Artist Statement

March, 2007

"There are no stories without meaning... Afterwards the story becomes the book of the living, like a blaring trumpet that raises from the tomb those who have been dust for centuries... Still, it takes time, you have to consider the events, arrange them in order, find the connections, even the least visible ones."

-Umberto Eco, Baudolino

Stories are fluid, sliding through history into myth and legend as important cultural channels. They assume life in the retelling-transforming the tongue or page into a window unto the dramatic, the tragic, the heroic, and the fantastic.  

The relationship between audience and storyteller is a powerful one. A narrative stimulates the imagination and weilds the power to arrest our attention and emotions. By illustrating the moments where a character is deepest in their role, my work explores what a twenty-first century retelling of the legends of the Saints and classical mythology might look like in light of present day aesthetics and societal atmosphere. Because of the stories' supernatural associations, their authentications lie in our reaction to them-the moment that one of these stories affects our everyday practice, be it spiritual, political, or social, the fictional quality of the work dissolves. How the story arrives at its moral or idealistic conclusion becomes irrelevent; our criticism or reception of the ideas and characters presented admits their relevance.

Working closely with a story's text, (for example, Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe and Jacobus de Voragine's The Golden Legend ) I strive to create contemporary precious objects that acknowledge the rich body of historical imagery in the Wester tradition, including illuminated manuscripts and religious sculpture, and expound up on it. Ceramic, wood, gold leaf and paint act out the story through texture, line, and form, allowing the viewer to investigate each tale in relation to their own experience.

I am also influenced by the work of Kiki Smith, Inka Essenhigh and Pae White. Their multimedia explorations and paintings incorporate a layering of character and image I find particularly poignant.