Susan Taylor, Artist

 

About

Susan Taylor is an assemblage artist, an art doll maker and an altered bookmaker.   Susan has been a creative for most of her life, dabbling in jewelry, sewing, knitting, macramé, decorating, DIY projects, and ultimately focusing and stretching into mixed media/found object assemblages as well as doll making.  Susan was born in North Dakota in 1960, and because of regular visits to family farms, became fascinated with all of the discarded treasures she would find on the property.  This was early training for finding beauty in the discarded.   In the late 1990's, Susan attended a Joseph Cornell exhibit in San Francisco and a passion was born.  Susan attended her first artist retreat in Port Townsend, WA in 2009 and a love of assemblage and journaling was born.  She has dedicated herself to learning new techniques for combining found objects and old doll parts, and conquering her “fear of flat” by committing to visual journaling and book making techniques.  Eventually, she started taking classes in paper clay doll making and is currently expanding her work to combine her own doll creations with found objects.   Susan continues to take classes in person and on-line to sample new techniques and gain new skills.

COLLECTIONS

Recycled/Assemblage (2009 – 2015)

Visual Journals - Personal Collection (2011 – Current)

Spindly-Legs (2013 – 2015)

Teeny Weeny (2015)

VLA –Very Large Assemblage  (2012 – 2014)

Busts (2016 – Current)

Tins & Boxes – 2015 - Current

Bust/Assemblage Combined (Currently Unfolding)

 

EXHIBITIONS

ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 

  • “Doll/Totem” (July 2012)
  • “Keeping Up Appearances” (February 2015)
  • “As You Wish” (March 2011)

CK Gallery, Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 

  • “Discardia”, Featured Artist (July 2012)
  • “Spiritual Journies”, group show, Honorable Mention (May 2012)

PUBLICATIONS

Art Doll Quarterly – Aug/Sept/Oct 2013, Volume 11, Issue 3: Santos Cage Doll Challenge: “Serena, Our Lady of Spirit”

OPEN STUDIOS

SF Open Studios, Bryant Street Shared Studio, June 2010

SF Open Studios, Bryant Street Shared Studio, October 2010

Berkeley, Active Space Studio, July 2011

Berkeley, Active Space Studio, July 2012

GALLERIES

ACCI Gallery, 1652 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 

  • Member, July 2011 – March 2015.  October 2016 – March 2017
  • Chair, Display Committee, April 2013 – September 2015; March 2017 
  • Treasurer, May 2014 – September 2015
  • President, Board of Directors, July 2014 - September 2015

CK Gallery, Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA

  • “Discardia” Exhibit
  • “Spiritual Journies” Exhibit

AWARDS

“The Keeper”, Best in Show, CK Gallery, “Discardia” Recycled Show (July 2012)

“Improvisation”, Honorable Mention, CK Gallery,  Recycled Show (February 2012)

ARTIST RETREATS

Artfest, Port Townsend, WA  March 2009

Artfest, Port Townsend, WA  April 2014