Ego Death

Jessie Taylor

Spanning a vibrant spectrum of colour Jessie Taylor’s paintings emerge from a childish delight in the way things look and feel. They have a folky neon hue to them. Festivals are obviously a reference point here: when nature is adorned, transformed by the artificers of the party. The four sides of the paintings construct the space: the container, ritualistically speaking, for ecstatic communion with one’s surroundings. 

That sounds a little serious, which these paintings are not: they are about letting loose and letting in, letting the colours flow and the shapes on textured surfaces whirl. There’s a slide toward the unreal, a ripple effect registered by the palette the artist chooses. The transfigured environs such as those of Boomtown festival are where Jessie researches for her immersive artworks. Exuberant, psychedelic forms make for joyful, other-worldly paintings, in a way reminiscent of some of the great fine art adorning album covers – think those of Jimi Hendrix and Tame Impala.