Kara Taylor’s stunning new exhibition, “The Seeded Pages,” creates a personal diary of the artist’s healing journey and connection to her lineage.
Her collection of 25 pieces comes from the combination of two experiences this winter. She participated in somatic therapy, a holistic body-centered approach emphasizing the mind-body connection. It incorporates physical techniques to help release stored tension and trauma in the body.
Taylor was also gifted her great-grandmother’s high school journal from 1907, thus creating a tangible link to her ancestral line. “She was an interesting woman,” Taylor reflects. “She seemed like a force of nature for her time. Reading her journal from over a century ago, I was amazed that we weren’t that dissimilar.” The resulting show, filled with intricate, allusive images budding with metaphorical meaning, speaks to the dialog between the two.
Taylor eschewed painting in oil this year and instead crushed up plants and seeds to create a literal palette from nature. “Every day, I would go into the studio, and as a way to center myself, I would make these intuitive meditation drawings on the floor based on the somatic work I was doing. Using the plants felt very grounding, and any healing work that brings up a lot of emotion can be very ungrounding.”
“I would just start, and it would evolve,” Taylor explains. “It was completely unplanned with no preconceived notion.” After forming the composition on the floor, she would photograph the resulting large image and then print, seal, and wax over it. She sometimes added paint or gold leaf and items such as family lace, beads, buttons, textiles, and photographs and pages from her great-grandmother’s diary.
The mixed media items create an alluring physical texture that enhances the underlying two-dimensional prints.
Just as each piece is a conversation between Taylor and her great-grandmother, so too do they speak to each other. Some titles reference Taylor’s somatic healing experiences, such as “The Mother Line.” The weekly therapy workshops began with calling out the names of one’s female relatives through the “mother line.” The solid female silhouette, with its horizontal stripes — or lines, evokes the innate power of the matrilineal lineage.
The resplendent vessel in “The Singing Bowl of Earthly Delights” is connected to its use in meditations during the somatic workshop. The linear pattern of the central gold lace abstractly conveys its soothing tones, which vibrate to promote healing in the body and mind.
Taylor, born and raised on the Vineyard, spends half the year in Cape Town. She uses the bundled interiors of dried South African protea flowers in “Women’s Circle,” tying them with strips of lace and vintage dresses. The bundles recall Native American sacred smudge sticks, which embrace the central black-and-white photograph of Taylor’s great-grandmother and two girlfriends.
The autumnal hues of the organic materials in “Wherever Stillness is Possible, May it Find You” create a handsome, tall, totemic image. The narrow, symmetrical composition, which includes fan-like feathered wings, supports a photograph of a woman standing on a large boulder that summons the stillness and peace of the title. For Taylor, the photograph “evokes stoicism, the solitariness of being on an island, and empowerment of the feminine.
“Family Tree” is similarly tall and narrow but filled with many more decorative elements, some of which are gold-leaf and reminiscent of jewelry passed down through the generations. Lace and textiles frame photographs and book pages that peek through, beckoning us to look closely and let our own associations emerge.
The abstract sacred form in “Temple Collective” can loosely allude to a woman’s body wearing a beaded African skirt, calling up Taylor’s striking prior mixed-media ritual tribal assemblages.
“In Everything Small, There is Something Smaller that Wants to Burst Out” is a cornucopia of bright colors. With its evocative title and heart-shaped ensemble, Taylor sees it as a self-portrait. Nestled amidst all the blooms is a flower that looks like a bird’s head staring straight into our soul. “Even as a child, I was out in the gardens, picking flowers,” Taylor shares.
She ties three generations together in “Ephemeral Root,” a feminine family tree. Taylor layers her grandmother’s buttons and intricate antique black lace on top of a gorgeous light-filled image of weightless twisted gauze organically “sprouting” upward. We also discover a page of her great-grandmother’s diary. “I’m getting to know her through her journal. Even though I never knew her, we are still linked in terms of ancestry.”
“The Seeded Pages” is an intimate journey filled with rich history, ideas, and far-reaching associations. Taylor says about the exhibition, “I think it’s important to share our traumas. To talk about and deal with them. I was feeling so shy about this. It took a lot. But if you don’t put yourself out there, you’re not an artist. It takes bravery.”
“The Seeded Pages” is on view at the Kara Taylor Gallery through August 25. For more information about Taylor and the collection, see karataylorart.com/#/the-seeded-pages.
