Kara Taylor's Layered Practice Bridges Martha's Vineyard and South Africa
Kara Taylor has been creating art since 2016, dividing her time between Cape Town and Martha's Vineyard. Her mixed-media paintings explore themes like impermanence, connection, and changes in the environment. A graduate of the Maine College of Art, she originally studied ceramic sculpture. In her work, she blends various materials such as oil paint, encaustic wax, photomontage, fabric, found objects, dried flowers, lace, gold leaf, and even discarded texts. You’ll often notice recurring designs in her pieces, like diamond shapes and window-like forms. Some of her well-known portraits include figures like Jane Goodall, Marie Colvin, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Plus, she built a home on Martha's Vineyard using reclaimed materials.
Key facts
- Kara Taylor splits her time between Martha's Vineyard and Cape Town, South Africa since 2016.
- She studied ceramic sculpture at the Maine College of Art.
- Her materials include oil paint, encaustic wax, photomontage, fabric, found materials, dried flowers, lace, gold leaf, and discarded texts.
- Recurring symbols include diamond forms, luminous color fields, and window-like openings.
- Portrait subjects include Jane Goodall, Marie Colvin, Benazir Bhutto, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and L. Robin Rosenberg.
- She designed and built her home on Martha's Vineyard using salvaged architectural elements.
- Her work addresses themes of impermanence, connection, and environmental transformation.
- African textiles and symbolic human figures appear in her paintings after her move to South Africa.
Entities
Artists
- Kara Taylor
Institutions
- Maine College of Art
Locations
- Martha's Vineyard
- Cape Town
- South Africa
Sources
- AATONAU —