CatharineClarkGallery

Rendered with a tender fragility, Josephine Taylor’s intensely personal large-scale works of diluted inks on paper examine the emotional and psychological landscapes of real or imagined trauma and resilience. Though autobiographical, Taylor’s works resonate through experiences that are also universal. In this new body of work, her continuing themes—childhood fear, loss of and struggles to maintain innocence, physical deterioration, and strength in the face of suffering—manifest as intertwined and distorted figures in sexual battle. “One archetypal relationship is shown over and over—that of the vulnerable child and the monstrous male—though the exact identities, ages, and roles of the players shift…reinforcing the idea that a single personal memory had unlimited projections.” In Skinned and Flayed and Sex Monster, grotesque bodies bend and fold into each other and flesh is exposed like layers of onion. “I was working with this idea of bodies breaking down, disintegrating and collapsing, but still held up by someone.” In Pack Heat/Elbow Strike, a girl with braided pigtails wields semi-concealed blades with her spread and contorted limbs, a fierce look of combat-readiness on her face, prepared for defense or revenge. Also included in the exhibition is a new series titled “Rug Drawings.” Drawn from memory, with only a nightlight to illuminate her work, these works are stripped of both detail and narrative so that only a gesture remains. The outlines of intertwined bodies on an octagonal rug are ambiguous—either mid-orgy or scuffle. As with all the drawings for Monsterface, the floating figures on expansive white backgrounds, distorted perspective, and twisted limbs reminiscent of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblocks evoke a visceral dream-like feeling of confusion and anxiety that Josephine Taylor has come to master.