E.D. Taylor

Lives and works in Cleveland, OH, USA

Artist statement

Human Equation I make art to construct purpose and meaning around my lack of belief in an afterlife. As I create, I challenge myself to master processes that best express my obsession with life, death and all things glittery.

Artwork

• Visiting Uncle Andy at Atascadero State Hospital (a maximum-security forensic facility), 1981, 2023. On June 20, 1980, my mother’s brother Andy was involuntarily committed to Atascadero State Hospital (ASH) as a Mentally Disordered Sex Offender. “Visiting Uncle Andy,” my site-specific artist installation at Eastern State Penitentiary, commemorates my immediate family’s and my 1981 visit to ASH to see him.
• Visiting Uncle Andy at Atascadero State Hospital (a maximum-security forensic facility), 1981, 2023. mixed mediums (site-specific installation)
• Testing 1, 2, 3 ..., 2017. charcoal and pen and ink drawings mounted to Baltic birch plywood: acrylics, metallic paint, gilding, map tacks, scrapbooking decals, topcoats and varnishes, barnwood frames, hand-forged iron hooks, embroidery floss, hand-cast and hand-painted resin beads, hand-sculpted polymer-clay beads, old electronics components, 3-Doodler beads, pom poms, glass beads, metal crimp beads, rustic barnwood dog-ear picket fencing
• Skin Game (unethical medical experiments performed on the U.S. prison population), 2023. copper sculpture mesh, Fireline, adhesives, LED blacklights, glass eyes
• Sweaty Palms: Mapping the Palmar Nerves, 2019. rayon embroidery thread, EL wire, window screen material, steel ammo box, solder, flux, shrink tubing, adhesives, varnish
• Murmur, 2021. silk, glass beads, cotton and rayon embroidery thread, copper sculpture mesh, EL wire and EL circles, ceramic candy dish, acrylic candy cups, tray, planter, plate holder, Duralar, Flashe, spray paint, hand-dyed cotton doily, child’s cotton chair canopy, diode, speaker, MP3 player, cotton batting, solder, flux, shrink tubing, adhesives, tinfoil
• Murmur, 2021. silk, glass beads, cotton and rayon embroidery thread, copper sculpture mesh, EL wire and EL circles, ceramic candy dish, acrylic candy cups, tray, planter, plate holder, Duralar, Flashe, spray paint, hand-dyed cotton doily, child’s cotton chair canopy, diode, speaker, MP3 player, cotton batting, solder, flux, shrink tubing, adhesives, tinfoil
• Becoming Dust: Powering up a Talisman, 2016. performance, mixed mediums