Portfolio
Taylor Xu
Project 1| Final Work: Self-portrait
Project 2| Installation
Project 3| Material/ Texture
Project 4| Cultural Reflection
Project 5| Observational adaptation
Project 6| Watercolor
Project 7| Digital Collage
Project 8| Observation Painting
Other Works
Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 180 x 200cm, 2022
Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 180 x 200cm, 2022
Self-portrait oil on canvas
60 x 90cm 2022
Project 1| Final Work
In the three paintings of horses, I aimed to demonstrate my growth over adolescence and my evolving narrative of equestrianism. As I alter the horses' form, motion, and color palette, I plant in impulsive-to-mature stages of myself, for equestrian became my second identity in the past 8 years. The first panel focuses on child-like carelessness and joy. The second illustrates a teenage rider’s pursuit of impulse and adrenaline rush through the strong effect of motion and contrary colors. The final piece has a peaceful and reflective undertone, exhibiting my current mindset as a young adult and a mature rider. I used a cool, neutral tone to show my innate calmness and rational thinking on and off horseback. The transition is completed from fresh and light colors to strong complementary colors. A complete cycle is depicted.
impulsive-to-mature
Self-portrait , oil on canvas, 180 x 200cm, 2022
Project 1| Final Work & Process
Production process & Sketch
Project 1| Final Work Process
For all three paintings, I created the motion effects is by pulling tape against the thick layer of paint. With more experiments on sketches, I could control the direction and intensity of the color’s mixing.
Hu-tong, installation, 250 x 100cm x 100cm (28 inch wheels), 2021
Project 2| Installation
This installation symbolizes the imagery of my childhood, which was spent on the back of my father’s bike, shuttling back and forth on Beijing’s signature layout of road: Hutong.
The mirror on the floor represents the many puddles in Hutong. It allows viewers to interact, anticipating to provoke reflection on their unconscious personal growth over the years and help them to reconnect with their unvarnished selves. This chance would be significant for those who chose to alter aspects of themselves to cope with work or society. I also used the package of snacks that everybody knows in my generation to trigger shared memory of our childhood.
Project 2| Installation details
Project 3| Material/ Texture
Blossom, gauze, soyabean, iron chain, and woolen yarn, 30 x 18cm, 2021
Wave, Styrofoam stripe, yarn, plastic beads, 10 x 9cm, 2021
Detail
Hide and Seek, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 90cm, 2020
Reflection in the water, oil on canvas, 60 x 90cm, 2021
Project 3| Material/ Texture
The Vulture, oil on canvas 40 x 60cm, 2022
Project 4| Cultural Reflection #1
I painted based on the observation of everyday scenery on the side of the road: huge vultures resting on the water tower. My painting explores the concept of superstition. According to Chinese superstition, the black vulture on the top would represent villain’s figure. With the surveying composition, it is also natural to assume that the vulture is the dominant power in this piece. However, in the painting, the vulture is a victim. The board was hanging on its neck as a specific way of public humiliation developed during The Culture Revolution. Moreover, the board was covered by multiple layers representing the nation’s attempt to “fix” or beautify that period. I also aim to deliver a sense of horror in its eyes.
I used unnatural colors and disproportion to deliver an uncanny vibe and a mixture of the Eastern and the Western culture. There are elements like a duck’s tongue and burning candles to illustrate the abuse and influence of superstition on humanity during the Cultural Revolution (1988) in China which I heard from my parents’ storytellings. The color palette blended Virginia’s fall colors, which accompanied the scene with vulture when I first beheld it by the road that lead to the barn, which led me to reflect on the storytellings on the other side of the world…
Sketches
Project 4| Cultural Reflection #1 Process
My painting has been heavily influenced by Ukiyo-e: a traditional Japanese genre of art that focuses on the themes of monsters, folklore, and female beauty. I found out Ukiyo-e would perfectly fit the social problem - the “male gaze” - which I intended to discuss through my painting. The octopus embodies the concepts of monster and male. With distortion and bizarre presentation of organs, an eye, and limbs, I wanted to deliver the sense of oppression brought by the male gaze to the viewers. The general gesture of the octopus and the suckers are coming at the viewers, leaving no privacy and space，precisely the impact of a weird gaze. I portrayed the position of females as being “occupied” by the octopus, for the breasts, legs and arms are in a status of struggling. The weirdness is designated to call for more attention to the unspoken offense of women and attention to female’s feelings in society.
Project 4| Cultural Reflection #2
The Male Gaze, Acrylic, 80 x 110cm, 2022
Project 5| Observational adaptation
Front Pruden and the Well, Oil on Canvas, 20 x 27cm, 2021
Poison, scratch art, 30 x 45cm, 2020
The Feast, 18 x 32cm, watercolor, 2021
Inspired by the dining scene from Alice in Wonderland, I attempted to paint my vision of a feast in an imaginary, fairytale-like world. The rabbit head corresponds with power, while the presence of figs confront royal ideals, meaning worthlessness.
Project 6| Watercolor
Project 7| Digital Collage #1
This collage reflects the downside of altruism as a continuation of the first piece, exploring another aspect of my extrovert personality. From a bigger picture, I am a marine creature captured fresh from the sea. The “water” at the bottom is a mirror, yet I ignore the reflection of myself in it and gaze in another direction, which represents overflowing care for others instead of myself. I made up my body with a sponge half covered by a fish scale, representing an entity with little protection which can be altered and influenced by anyone I care about into any shape. If the sponge is being squeezed for too many times, it will eventually lose its resilience and stop responding to any harm. The group of glaciers over my face and shattered glass behind me represent coldness and isolation from others with the sharp edges which easily cut the sponge or destroy the sense of warmth. Meanwhile, the red fishnet in the background symbolizes the feeling of being tightly bonded with the coldness, and a sense of struggling that all fish will do in the fishnet.
A Fish, digital collage, 1668 x 2224px, 2022
Project 7| Digital Collage #2
The marketplace, digital collage, 1668 x 2224px, 2022
This is another self-portrait illustrating my extrovert and welcoming nature. Very much like Beijing’s marketplace in my memory, my “marketplace” is chaotic but abundant, bright, and warm, as if you can find anything you need in me. The collage emphasizes on giving, which is one of my major beliefs after years of close friendships, leaderships, and family upbringings. Taking pictures of Peking’s food, fruit, and market culture, I am showing the typical confidence in Pekingnese which is the basis of our generosity. If you are a tourist, and you like markets like this, then you would like me.
Project 8| Observation Painting
A Corner On the Balcony, oil on canvas, 30 x 50cm, 2020
Beijing, watercolor, 23 x 32, 2022
Grapes, acrylic, 15 x 20 cm, 2020
Other Works
Sketch, pencil on paper, 38 x 60cm, 2021
Touch, sharpie on paper, 50 x 75cm, 2019
Jennie, watercolor, 14 x 19cm, 2020