Jacob Taylor Gibson
BIOgraphy
Jacob Taylor Gibson is a printmaker and artist residing in Denton, Texas. In 2020, he earned a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is currently in the process of completing an MFA with a concentration in printmaking from the University of North Texas. Primarily, his work is created through lithography, silkscreen, and print reconstruction/collage. Jacob has exhibited his work nationally as well as internationally and has work in many permanent collections including The Meadows Museum , The Hilliard, and The Southern Graphics Council print archive.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My work primarily draws upon antiquated subjects, patterns, and spaces to illustrate the process of coping with past trauma and the resultant feelings of shame, inadequacy, and incompleteness. Within the images, antique objects are left abject within spaces that are solely defined by aged patterning with the intent of these spaces eliciting familiarity through the use of warm color palettes and worn textures, as an old familial photograph would. Each resulting image serves as dirty looking-glass for the viewer to peer into.
These liminal spaces exist neither in the present nor the past; they are somewhere in-between: examinations of how integral past-experiences are in shaping our current selves. This theme is mirrored in my use of antique items, which each typically serve a singular purpose. Utilitarian items such as these are often passed from one generation to the next: much in the same manner as that of abuse, neglect, and apathetic behaviors, further paralleling perpetuated abuse and the objects represented in the work.
A unique duality is formed through the practice of printmaking. In the initial lithographic layers, a nurturing relationship is formed between artist and image, but that tenderness is ultimately subverted through the use of intaglio processes. The final layer of the print transforms a once-warm space into a degraded, tumultuous environment: mimicking abusive spaces. My role as both caregiver and abuser is integral to the work and examines how learned-behaviors will continue to be repeated until those abused take on active introspection: mindfully cutting off a pattern caused by the misdeeds of others.
Ultimately, this self-reflection serves as purpose for my work: with hope that, through conversations both verbal and pictorial, some suffering from past abuse may be amended.
Website: www.jacobtaylorgibson.com
Instagram: @jacobtaylorgibson