Photo is taken by Denise Malone Photography
Today we’d like to introduce you to Meryl Nicole Taylor.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born four months early in upstate New York. From the get-go I was a tenacious one and out to prove something either to myself or others. I was raised in Seattle where my parents are from though my dad is originally from a small town in Southeast Alaska called Ketchikan where I spent many summers and eventually attended high school. It’s beautiful, magical, lush and wild. Fishing and kayaking and rain is a way of life and Bald Eagles, Orcas and Humpbacks are like your protective and mindful next door neighbors.
There’s something special and sacred about the Northwest Coast Native American art and their history and I’ve tried to honor this and then some in my art, specifically my abstract colored pencil drawings and paintings.
My parents were hardcore political activists and progressives and protesting was a way of life and I went on my first peace march when I was 3. They were environmentalists as well and gave me a great appreciation for other cultures and the world at large. That being said I wasn’t sheltered and was exposed to everything and anything when it came to music, art, philosophy, world travel, sports and culture. It was an immersive childhood and completely eclectic yet piercing and beautiful like the all-encompassing and impermanent Northern Lights.
I moved to LA to pursue acting along with my art and dance career. During Quarantine, I’ve painted murals and self-produced the comedy web series, Bambie from Purgatory gives Quarantine Advice inspired by the character Bambie from The Dead Sullvan Show. She talks about the afterlife and its beauty and the love and charm she has for it. She’s fun and funny, serious, quirky, needy, justified, strong, lovelorn and forever in love with love… she’s basically any of us. She’s my alter ego with black hair, flamboyant, provocative, enticing, and inspiring to which I have the utmost respect for.
I’d like to emphasize that I’m an artist first and foremost no matter what medium. It can be through a painting, drawing or collage or bringing a character to life. Or it’s through a piece of choreography and movement but in the end I’m the emotional and physical vehicle in a moment for change.
Has it been a smooth road?
Sometimes the less one thinks the better and I’m constantly reminded of this in improv…”to not write the scene, hence life”. As of now it surely is more about the journey than “arriving”. I remember in art school learning a new technique and mastering it and then saying to myself, “what’s the next one, complacency doesn’t work”.
There’s something about creating and pushing through nothingness to where the idea finally materializes and I see a path that was unknown. I’m always searching for the unknown, the unseen, the invisible to make visible. This shows in my paintings and drawings. I guess any idea is just an idea until it’s expressed and given life and breath.
Look at Bambie from Purgatory and how she sees and lives it. I’m expressing it from my point of view and I’m sure others will have their point of view but none of us is inaccurate. I’m enjoying creating a reality that I hope will be something of beauty that will last and affect others positively.
When I was a kid and even now at times, I want to know before I know, it’s habitual. But being aware is a step forward.
Following one’s heart and their dreams is of utmost importance, as we all know. I had that dream to be an actress and I finally gave myself permission to pursue it and then plans fell in place to move here. It’s a pleasure to share my story and give hope to others.
Please tell us more about your art.
I specialize in creating beauty via fine art and performing. I don’t stick with one style or medium which keeps it interesting and exciting. I paint and draw and collage and have acquired a large body of work. Obviously, it shows that I’m naturally drawn to shapes and colors. The art I create is often abstract. With my paintings and colored pencils I tend to work from an emotion and color until images appear and in retrospect it adds to the layers and depth of those particular pieces.
Painting murals is more representational and realistic and idealogical.
A fellow artist recently commented on my modern stick figures saying, “it’s amazing how sexy & elegant your stick figures can look”. Personally, I adore them because they have energy, soul and are supremely expressive. Each one is completely unique and different than the other because no two are alike or ever will be, like a fingerprint.
I’m most proud of my idea and aesthetic of beauty and having developed techniques by exploiting mediums to express my vision.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
As an actor, I’d definitely say we’re in a Renaissance period with producing one’s own content and being seen online and throughout social media. But it means one is competing with the world as opposed to locally or nationally. Also, I imply Renaissance because a couple of years ago I saw the prolific documentary Be Natural narrated by Jodie Foster about French pioneer filmmaker Alice Guy-Blache’. She seized the opportunity to direct and make films in the late 1800’s to the 1900’s. It said that we are essentially in the same space of creativity by documenting our own content because of the internet, cell phones and access to equipment. We’re in a heyday so to speak and can tape our cat playing basketball if we want…anything goes.
Even in the art world it’s moving more online and virtual because of the pandemic. From museum visits to gallery shows to viewing artists’ working in their studio and showing their process of creating. It’s intimate yet a kaleidoscope and I hope we continue to honor our sense of privacy and not give away everything for the sake of followers.
But I do understand change is inevitable and unexpected and it keeps life interesting and challenging and rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: Merylsmurals.me
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Merylntaylor
- Facebook: Meryl Nicole Taylor
- Tik Tok: @merylntaylor
Image Credit:
1) Mural
2) Mixed media on paper
3) Bambie from Purgatory gives Quarantine advice
4) Colored pencil on black paper
5) Mixed media collage
6) Colored pencil on black paper
7) Acrylic on board
8) Pen & Ink
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