LAUNCH F18 is delighted to present Florida based artist, Taylor O. Thomas in its online Viewing Room. This unique presentation of new works on paper, titled:
Period
Comma
Sunset
will feature a selection of Taylor's remarkably gestural and highly expressive abstract paintings. Period Comma Sunset opens on November 12 and will remain online through January 30, 2020.
Period
Comma
Sunset
is both a title that encapsulates this collection of recent works, and a poem that succinctly captures 2020 from my perspective. As I considered various phrases that could embody this show, my aim was to find a title that would hint at the inexplicable sense of warped time I have felt– each day and hour being both fast and slow, repetitive and yet unpredictable.
- Taylor O. Thomas
Within this viewing room, Taylor O. Thomas has created a stunning series of new works on paper. Featuring pieces like Heavyweight, Thomas captures a remarkable combination of intensity, vibrancy, and the physicality of her mark making with complete fluidity.
Pulling from memories and reflections from throughout the pandemic, Thomas approached these new works much like a thoughtful meditation. "I see this show as being peppered by 14 commas– there is a hop from one piece to the next, an unbroken relationship between each component part, but a definite difference that begs for pause," Thomas explains. Deep within these works lies expressive emotions, physical reactions, and gestures that capture the outpouring of deeply complex feelings.
Period Comma Sunset proudly showcases a series of remarkably distinct moments, in such a uniquely expressive time in history. It is because of this current place in time that these paintings take form, and embody the space, and shape of this very period we find ourselves in.
Taylor O. Thomas (1990) is an American painter who utilizes gestural abstraction as a means of discovery and embodiment. By manipulating texture, color, and space, Thomas creates paintings and drawings that question her own tendencies, ways of seeing, and the interconnection between the body and the mind. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and private collections across the United States and internationally. In 2012, Thomas graduated from Davidson College with a BA in Studio Art. She went on to receive a Graduate Fellowship from the University of South Florida and earned her MFA in 2019.
Thomas is the recipient of an inaugural Innovate Artist Grant, a Peripheral Vision Publication Fellowship, a two-time role as Publication Juror for Friend of the Artist, a Regional Artist Project Grant by the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte, NC, and residency scholarships to attend Vermont Studio Center and Benaco Arte in Sirmione, Italy. Other residencies include MassArt’s Art New England and Deli Grocery New York. Thomas currently lives and works in Tampa, Florida.