Lipstick on a pig, 2024

What at first appears as portraits imbued with vivid color and movement soon reveals unseen and internalized truths. Scotti Taylor has constructed a practice of painting that brings together the figurative, the abstract, and the autobiographical to share the struggles of womanhood and contemporary life.

The work connects her to her youth. Within her paints, she dissects the childhood traumas that she continually lives with, the impact these events have taken on her mental wellness, and the way we battle with coping mechanisms such as substance abuse. Through her perseverance, she has found the love of family. A wife and mother of four children, her hope and love manifest on her canvases, especially as she embraced her life caring for a child with special needs. Issues of mental and physical health for women like herself have come to weigh heavy on her mind and in her work, understanding contemporary disparities of accessible care and the stigmas that keep so many women silenced. Today, she coalesces the sentiments from a lifetime of experiences to tell the stories of women, the battles they face, and the resilience they demonstrate.

Taylor’s process translates these personal, yet collectively resonating, experiences into her own visual language. Human forms and faces meld with colorful floral patterns. She embraces spontaneity and a sense of intuition in abstract mark-making elements and intricate details that add layers to her stories. Thick applications of paint add textures that draw viewers deeper into the work. Here, they investigate her subjects, her symbolisms, and her radiating spirit. A vibrant palette of color juxtaposes the tumultuous topics she addressed. Much like the masks we wear to protect ourselves, the traumas, anxieties, and hidden truths are disguised beneath the entrancing kaleidoscopic colors.

Within her layers are the depths of our realities. Taylor asks us to forge pathways of connection based on love, empathy, and compassion. She reminds us that no one’s story is simple. No one embodies a single role in their life. The inherent complexities that continually physically, mentally, and spiritually challenge us also unveil new beauty.