Introduction: Taylor

My name is Taylor Blocker and I am currently a student at the University of North Texas double-majoring in Art History and Painting and Drawing, and pursuing minors in French and Chemistry. In my studio practice I like to focus on portraiture, though I plan on exploring a great deal more, especially while in my undergrad. Studying Art History has had a great deal of influence on paintings. I feel that along with a knowledge of terminology and methodologies, simply the vast quantities of different work you ingest and study as an Art History student has given me a wide breadth of knowledge to draw inspiration from.

I feel that I have gravitated towards portraiture basically because I find people interesting. I feel that people can be overlooked or judged very quickly without anyone bothering to look back and really consider someone's humanity, and I hope to bring their humanity into light with my work. I find Iconography and Semiotics particularly interesting, and try to include poses and symbols from classical and ancient work into my paintings, as well as creating some of my own to suit the modern modes of thinking.



I love the idea of bringing different subjects into traditional art, but also having a sense of humor about it. Not simply recreating what was done in the past but finding new ways of using their methods to portray different subjects, or commenting on how we live today.