photos: Bob Raymond (MAG)Leigh Waldron-Taylor
“I dream of boots and an army of women”
mixed media installation
Original intention was to place a very tall aluminum ladder resting against the window. Pairs of varied types of women's boots are placed around the base of the ladder enclosing and encircling it.
The artist states in an email to the curator:
"In my perfect world, the ladder would be an unextended aluminum extension ladder affixed to the floor invisibly with very strong double-sided tape and the top resting against the window. I would put some soft material such as fleece invisibly between the metal and glass to protect the window. The boots would surround and fill in the space at the bottom of the ladder to form a circle. That's what I see in my mind's eye.
That said, the height of the ladder issue is important and an interesting challenge to be reconciled as I think about it and your suggestions. There's a solution somewhere"
Leigh Waldron-Taylor explores what is the same but different through various genre and media. Leigh’s recent work is conceptual and organized as performative installation in which anything is up for scrutiny and rendered in any way possible. This represents a movement away from work done previously which focused on visual representation via painting and printmaking. Leigh has studied in Providence, Toronto, and Provincetown and exhibited in Boston, Toronto, Provincetown, Berlin, and San Francisco.
http://leighwaldrontaylor.com
Notes from the Curator:
1. A few visitors to the exhibit said they wished that the artist hadn't divulged so much of the process in her statement about her work. I told them that that was entirely my fault. Actually the artist hadn't really said anything in particular about her work, other than the title. I was the one who was fascinated by the process of how to take an initial thought and transform it into reality.
All that said, everyone had different interpretations of what the installation and "dream" was about. Some thought all the shoes/boots belonged to the same person and perhaps it was a commentary on the excess of shoes and upward mobility. Others thought it might be something about going to heaven especially after I revealed that the artist said that since she had found many of the more ornate high heeled shoes at second hand shops or estate sales, perhaps some of the shoes were from elderly ladies who had passed away. If one interpreted the piece that way, it's interesting to note that the boots, which might represent the working class, are closer to the ladder and the more ornate shoes, perhaps representing the aristocracy, fall further behind. Finally, I must confess that when the artist first mentioned "army of boots", I wasn't sure if this might be some kind of "support our women in the armed forces tribute" of some kind.
The artist never revealed to me what the true meaning underlying her work meant to her. Perhaps that is best and as she intended.
2. I especially loved how beautiful this installation looked at night with the shadow play of the ladder against the white pole. Sara June in her two performances made use visually of the artist's installation and had encounters with some of the shoes. Fortunately Leigh was fine with having her shoes and boots moved around during the performances and wasn't attached to a particular arrangement even during the ensuing exhibit.
“I dream of boots and an army of women”
mixed media installation
Original intention was to place a very tall aluminum ladder resting against the window. Pairs of varied types of women's boots are placed around the base of the ladder enclosing and encircling it.
The artist states in an email to the curator:
"In my perfect world, the ladder would be an unextended aluminum extension ladder affixed to the floor invisibly with very strong double-sided tape and the top resting against the window. I would put some soft material such as fleece invisibly between the metal and glass to protect the window. The boots would surround and fill in the space at the bottom of the ladder to form a circle. That's what I see in my mind's eye.
That said, the height of the ladder issue is important and an interesting challenge to be reconciled as I think about it and your suggestions. There's a solution somewhere"
Leigh Waldron-Taylor explores what is the same but different through various genre and media. Leigh’s recent work is conceptual and organized as performative installation in which anything is up for scrutiny and rendered in any way possible. This represents a movement away from work done previously which focused on visual representation via painting and printmaking. Leigh has studied in Providence, Toronto, and Provincetown and exhibited in Boston, Toronto, Provincetown, Berlin, and San Francisco.
http://leighwaldrontaylor.com
Notes from the Curator:
1. A few visitors to the exhibit said they wished that the artist hadn't divulged so much of the process in her statement about her work. I told them that that was entirely my fault. Actually the artist hadn't really said anything in particular about her work, other than the title. I was the one who was fascinated by the process of how to take an initial thought and transform it into reality.
All that said, everyone had different interpretations of what the installation and "dream" was about. Some thought all the shoes/boots belonged to the same person and perhaps it was a commentary on the excess of shoes and upward mobility. Others thought it might be something about going to heaven especially after I revealed that the artist said that since she had found many of the more ornate high heeled shoes at second hand shops or estate sales, perhaps some of the shoes were from elderly ladies who had passed away. If one interpreted the piece that way, it's interesting to note that the boots, which might represent the working class, are closer to the ladder and the more ornate shoes, perhaps representing the aristocracy, fall further behind. Finally, I must confess that when the artist first mentioned "army of boots", I wasn't sure if this might be some kind of "support our women in the armed forces tribute" of some kind.
The artist never revealed to me what the true meaning underlying her work meant to her. Perhaps that is best and as she intended.
2. I especially loved how beautiful this installation looked at night with the shadow play of the ladder against the white pole. Sara June in her two performances made use visually of the artist's installation and had encounters with some of the shoes. Fortunately Leigh was fine with having her shoes and boots moved around during the performances and wasn't attached to a particular arrangement even during the ensuing exhibit.
