Taylor Moon

My art serves as a means for others to self-define and process their own identity and struggles in a way that words alone cannot.

State: United States, USA

E-mail: taylormoon2014@gmail.com

Website:www.taylorcolettemoon.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/art.taylor.moon

Facebook: http://facebook.com/TaylorColetteMoonArt

Taylor Moon is a contemporary artist and educator whose primary medium is
poetically narrated and documentary animations. Ms.Moon received her Bachelors
from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a double major in Art and Art History.

Taylor Moon: "The Nomad Page 2"

Taylor Moon: "The Nomad Page 3"

Moon graduated one year early with Summa Cum Laude, and was awarded scholarships from the Mithun Family Foundation Fund, the Oppenheimer Fund, and the William Dole Memorial Fund. She exhibited at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, the AD&A Museum in Goleta, California, UCSB’s Anthropology department, and the Glass Box Gallery.
Ms. Moon received her Master of Fine Art in Art from the University of Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art. She was awarded a Levett Scholarship. Concurrently, she exhibited at the Ruskin School of Art Degree Show, the Hogacre Art Show, and the Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre.

At the age of 22, Ms. Moon became an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Missouri Southern State University. There, she exhibited at Open Walls Gallery, Next Museum, Las Laguna Gallery, the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics August 2021, and Spiva Arts Gallery. She now teaches at California State San Bernardino. She was featured in Frieze Magazine as an artist to watch in the Nov./Dec. 2020 edition.

My artwork considers juxtapositions between art and science and that of documentary and poetry. I created an animation entitled, The Nomad, which creates a metaphor between the wanderer lifestyles of an astronaut and homeless individual alike. I am interested in space for its metaphoric, philosophical, and social value.

By learning more about life beyond Earth, I channel the conversation back to helping life on Earth by aiding marginalized communities.

While researching topics regarding habitation of other planets, I ask critical questions in my artwork reflecting the need for better habitation for disenfranchised individuals on Earth. I also created three large-scale illustrations, each 30 inches x 40 inches, that portray scenes from within my animation. These illustrations were featured by Frieze Magazine, which is one of the world’s leading contemporary art magazines (https://www.frieze.com/article/artists-artists-samson-kambalu-rallying-taylor-moon). This work was also displayed at the University of Oxford, UK.

"The Nomad, which creates a metaphor between the wanderer lifestyles of an astronaut and homeless individual alike"

Taylor Moon: "The Nomad Page 1"

My animation, The Nomad, highlights the visual parallels in the clothing aesthetics, shelter materials and nomadic lifestyles of astronauts and homeless alike. Both must endure the elements. While taking the Art and Aerospace course, I formed a friendship with the homeless individual who lived behind my apartment. This friendship informed and inspired this work.

I learned how he would contend with life in unconventional ways. I fantasized about a metaphor between him and an astronaut. I noticed how his tented shelters appeared not unlike the gold foil on lunar vehicles.

The exposed fingertips of the homeless’ gloves became the finger caps of astronaut gloves. The bulky and make-shift aesthetic of the two archetypes’ clothing attested to survival needs.

The nomadic practice of carrying everything you need is embodied in both backpack and Primary Life Support Subsystem.

I imagined how the gridded panels of satellites could dissipate into shopping carts. One is physically removed from the public – due to the distance and barriers of space – whereas the other is socially removed from the public – due to marginalization. My animation and accompanying image stills unabashedly raise awareness of the glory society gives to one and not the other.