CONVERSATION WITH ARTIST:  SCOTT TAYLOR

Exhibiting during FRACTURED, February 10 - March 3, 2017

Name: Scott Taylor
Years in Detroit: 17 years
Working as an artist: 7 years
Preferred Medium: cold glass

What is currently your favorite—

Website:  I like to follow other artists, glass and otherwise, on Instagram.

Work of Art:  A watercolor & ink drawing by my studio mate, Madeleine Barkey

Piece of advice: “Be flexible”.

Do you collect anything?
Decorative cast iron, junk as art, folk art.

When did you first know you wanted to be an artist?
Earliest memory, early praise whenever I made something.

Was there an artist you admired that inspired you to be an artist yourself?
Matisse and Rothko have been with me for a long time—indirect, ongoing influences.

Is there a particular local artist whose work you admire?
The abstract rhythms of Joan Farago.

What themes do you tend to pursue in your work?
The destruction, distillation, and evolution of the traditional stained glass window vocabulary.

Is there something that connect the work in this exhibition?
I see the four of us having two common characteristics:
  - Color as an important composition tool
  - Building a larger image from a number of smaller repetitive shapes.­

What materials do you tend to work with and how do they contribute to the overall context of your work?
Sheets of art glass: the colors, the textures, and the way they react to light all inform my composition and structure.

Where are you finding inspiration lately?
In the beauty of the glass.

Is there a single habit that you strongly believe contributes to your success as an artist?
Diligence: following through on a new or risky idea.

What are you looking forward to most about the upcoming exhibition?
Viewing the relationship between the pieces in the gallery space.

What one item would you grab if your house were on fire?
Magoo, our Puggle puppy… and Sally’s mixed media portrait of me.

Have you learned anything from collaborating with this group of artists that resonated with you?
Changing your process can lead to new thinking and new results.