Sylvia Taylor / Artist Statement
Sylvia Taylor’s current work calls attention to our inhumanity to others by offering a perspective of the consequences of the patriarchal system in which we live. Patriarchy is a socially constructed system where males have primary power. It is an invisible, structural force that informs our beliefs and thoughts, therefore our decisions and actions. All of us, men and women alike, participate in this system, usually unaware of the extent to which this unconscious programing has on us.
The overarching patriarchal system goes beyond just devaluing women. It also devalues others who are outside the group that holds power. This system harms men, too, by disconnecting them from their emotions and prescribing a narrowly defined role: to be strong, competitive, prove their manhood, and ultimately deny their humanity. Patriarchy informs every social system in our society, including nuclear family units, communities, cities, schools, industries, corporations, and more. It is, at its core, an unhealthy, even traumatizing, system.
Sylvia’s life experience and perspective is that of a white, cis woman. However, she witnesses and has empathy for all marginalized people, and that is also reflected in the work she creates.
Sylvia’s work calls upon us to look beneath the surface, to examine this invisible force that affects us so significantly. We would all benefit from engaging in a respectful, blame-free conversation about this dehumanizing social system.
About Sylvia Taylor
Sylvia is a mixed media artist reflecting on social systems and the impact those systems have.
The uninvited image of Tread Upon prompted this new direction in Sylvia’s work, looking beneath the surface at the underlying conditions and belief systems that perpetuate inequality and our inhumanity to others. Previously she worked in collage.
Sylvia uses art as a vehicle to express her understanding of the societal and institutional structures in our society, to question the inequality caused by the cultural conditioning those structures promote, and to encourage conversation about the pervasive patriarchal perspective and its impact.
