Mental Chaos by Lisa McIntosh

Rising Stars: An Introduction to Christian Taylor

By Lisa McIntosh

This is an artist I found as a customer in my family’s business. While waiting for his floral arrangement, we began to talk about careers and aspirations. He expressed his desire to be a well-known graphic design artist. I expressed my good wishes, told him I’d see him on his next visit, and suggested he bring some artwork then. Christian arrived three days later and brought with him some pieces he’d designed. Among the four pieces he’d shown me, I thought this one appealed to me most.

The piece I chose to write about is called “Mental Chaos”. Although simplistic in its mechanical design, one begins to penetrate the personal meaning in this piece. His inspiration is developed through separate created designs infused into a jumbled heap of mystery. I felt he chose an appropriate name for this piece as it exhibits a cluttered mess of confusion, in which he explains as how his mind feels when he’s creating his work. “I have so many ideas at one time, it feels as though they are all jumbled together to create one piece of all the different ideas, hence the name ‘mental chaos’”.

This piece contains various combinations of primary colors, swirled into a pattern similarly resembling tire tracks. On the inner layer, there are circled patterns of mixed colors creating a whimsical background. In the center of this piece is a blank (white) square, which I have been told is relative to peace and quiet in the midst in the middle of a chaotic storm. I think this piece is dead-on in recreating a chaotic mind. Somehow he caught the essence almost effortlessly. I look forward to seeing more of his work, and I wish him success and happiness throughout his endeavors.